Lynx lose game and momentum

The Augusta Lynx were right where they wanted to be after one period of Saturday night's game against visiting South Carolina.

Riding the momentum of a rout of Charlotte on Friday night, the Lynx had lost only four times all year when scoring first.

They were playing like a team ready to take advantage of their opportunity to jump a couple of teams in the South Division standings, mainly the Stingrays, who entered the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center just one point ahead.

Twenty minutes later, the Lynx were a long way from comfortable, having allowed five goals in the second period en route to a disheartening 6-3 loss.

Not only did the loss keep the Lynx (14-18-3) from moving up in the division, it put Augusta on the wrong end of momentum heading into today's tilt with Gwinnett, the third of a five-game homestand for Augusta.

"I just thought we stopped competing," Lynx coach Bob Ferguson said. "We took the momentum from (Friday) night and had played a really solid first period. But in the second period, we just seemed to stop competing for loose pucks, and we became as soft as baby powder in our own zone."

Augusta defeated third-place Charlotte 7-3 on Friday, but Saturday's three-goal loss to fifth-place South Carolina (13-13-8) leaves the Lynx needing a win today to salvage the pivotal three-game weekend.

"We've got to be ready to play a full 60 minutes, and we didn't do that tonight," Lynx defenseman Chris Leinweber said. "But that's the good thing about a 72-game schedule: if we rebound tomorrow, we've still had a good weekend."

Joel Perrault, who is with the Lynx only through the weekend before heading back to the American Hockey League, led Augusta with two goals, including one on a 3-on-2 breakaway in the first that staked Augusta to the early lead.

The Lynx defense lost its way in the second period, however, leaving several Stingrays unmanned in front of the net.

South Carolina scored three goals in a 6-minute span early in the second to put Augusta in a hole.

Though the first was a questionable score - the puck appeared to bounce off the crossbar and the goal light failed to fire - the remaining goals looked easy for South Carolina.

"We just got outworked," Leinweber said. "In the second period, (South Carolina) took off and we had some defensive lapses. That's it."

TIME CHANGE: Starting with Friday's game against South Carolina, all Lynx home night games for the rest of the season will start at 7:35 p.m. instead of 7:05 p.m.

The Lynx announced the change Saturday in an effort to appease popular demand to start games later.

Sunday games will remain 4:05 p.m. starts.

Reach Steve Sanders at (706) 823-33216 or steven.l.sanders@augustachronicle.com.