By Roy Lang III
The Shreveport Times

Wednesday night's 6-4 victory, aided by a 12-3 power-play advantage, against CHL-worst Evansville provided a microcosm of hockey along the Red River of late.

The Mudbugs are streaky. They've won in bunches and lost in bunches, but most troubling is the volatility within games and within periods of hockey.

"There are moments we're talking the right thing and we are engaged," Muscutt said. "The next thing you walk in and it's just dead. And that's the way we play."

Muscutt says if he were a gambling man he could predict wins and losses 20 minutes before the opening face-off. Consistency and hard-work — staples of a decade-plus of Mudbugs hockey — have flown the coop.

According to Muscutt, a turnaround is in the players' hands. Someone needs to take charge of the locker room.

"It has to happen," Muscutt said.

The Mudbugs have been riddled by injuries. However, even as some of the stars have returned, the chemistry appears shaky at best.

"Maybe some of the injured guys need to go home so these guys can focus," Muscutt said. "I don't know. I don't know."

The Allen Americans (34-10-1) come to town tonight — likely not the thing a depleted and unsteady team needs to see. The Mudbugs (26-20-2) have never defeated the Americans at the CTC and have lost 10 of 12 games all-time.

Note: David Rutherford, the Mudbugs leading scorer, will likely miss a couple of weeks after suffering a right leg injury Wednesday. An MRI revealed a moderate, but not severe injury.