It wasn't a very jubilant bye week for the New England Black Wolves.

They lost their last two games — their last one against the Vancouver Warriors was something south of stellar offensively at 10-6 — and then had time to ruminate.

"I didn't like the bye week. I don't like having to sit on that for two weeks," New England coach Glenn Clark said. "It was a long time to ponder how we played."

The Black Wolves (4-2) are back at it Sunday with a game vs. the Philadelphia Wings beginning at 5 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. And by then, Clark knows, it needs to be business as usual.

Just as the Wolves couldn't be overly celebratory with their 4-0 start, two losses is no reason to pack up and go home. It's a long season of ups and downs.

"We don't get caught up in that rollercoaster of ups and downs," Clark said in a conference call this week."We understand how good the other teams are. We understand that week by week, what each moment of preparation looks like. It doesn't change for us. The work is always the same. We have respect for the game and the opponent.

"It's very easy not to get caught up in that one way or the other."

Clark was particularly displeased with the transition goals the Black Wolves gave up against Vancouver — "It was the transition that killed us," he said. But also the offense was stale, producing only two goals through the first three quarters.

Clark said offensively the Black Wolves were looking for the "convenient looks." The coach said the shortfalls have certainly been brought to the players' attention.

"The reality is we have to be aligned as a group," Clark said. "It's very glaring. You can see how when we have success, what it looks like. There's a frustration from within the group. There's a frustration within the coaching staff. It can't be a 'not my job' mentality.

"We're very confident. We think we have a roster than can compete with anyone. But the margins are always so small. It's a grinder of execution. I don't want to overreact, but I'm not going to underreact either."

The Black Wolves are led by Callum Crawford with 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points and by Joe Resetarits (11 goals, 14 assists) and Andrew Kew (9 goals, 16 assists) with 25 points each. Goalie Doug Jamieson is allowing just 8.74 goals per game.

The Wings are coming off a game at Buffalo on Saturday night, with the quick turnaround headed to Mohegan Sun. Philadelphia (5-3 headed into Saturday's game) is led by Kevin Crowley with 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points.

v.fulkerson@theday.com