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ALBANY, NY — Looking for redemption, the Albany Devils used a fast start en route to a 6-3 victory against the Hershey Bears Friday. The Devils were handed a 4-0 loss against the Bears a week ago, but countered thanks to Joe Blandisi’s four-point night in front of 4,952 fans at Times Union Center.
Blandisi, who had a goal and three assists entering the game, doubled his point production and tied a career high for points — last accomplished on Oct. 31, 2015 against Utica. He scored his first goal just 28 second into the game. His second tally came on a jaw-dropping penalty shot move at 9:38 of the third period to make it a 4-2 score. The goal was Albany’s first penalty shot tally since Artem Demkov on Dec. 13, 2013 against Bridgeport.
Vojtech Mozik made his return to the Devils’ tonight after a brief stint in the NHL. He netted his first goal of the season at 18:07 to give Albany a 2-0 advantage at the break.
After Hershey’s Jakub Vrana pulled his team within one with a power-play goal at 3:28 of the second, Brian Gibbons recaptured the Devils’ two-goal lead on a breakaway. He stole a pass along the blue, split two defenders and beat Vitek Vanecek five-hole at 9:54 of the second.
Hershey’s Stanislav Galiev tally at 18:30 of the second preceded Blandisi’s penalty shot and Travis Boyd scored at 12:45 of the third. Blandisi setup Rod Pelley for his first goal of the season at 17:12 and Kevin Rooney capped the scoring with an empty-netter at 18:54.
Scott Wedgewood made nine saves on 12 shots for his 49th career victory.
Albany ended a two-game slide, while Hershey had their five-game winning streak and eight-game point streak halted.
The Devils return to action Saturday with a 5 pm contest against the St. John’s IceCaps at Times Union Center.
