Connecticut Whale vs Albany Devils: Whale Earn First Victory Of The Season With 5-2 Win Over Devils

The Connecticut Whale earned their first victory of the season tonight against the Albany Devils by a score of 5-2. After the Whale started out their 2012-2013 campaign winless in four games, they flipped the switch here tonight and came away with a commanding victory.

The Whale started out the game absolutely flat, and were getting beat to pucks in every area of the ice. Luckily, they were able to hold off the Devils' pressure for a majority of the period. The Whale were without Kris Newbury for most of the first period, as he tallied up a total of 14 penalty minutes just 38 seconds into the game. The Devils were able to get on the board with just over two minutes remaining in the first period, as Mike Hoeffel jammed home a rebound in front of Jason Missiaen.

Whatever Ken Gernander said in the locker room during the first intermission worked, and worked very well. The Whale came out in the second period with vengeance and turned the tables on the Devils. Just eight minutes in the second period, Brandon Segal scored off of a great individual effort, and drove to the net. He was able to fight off the Devils defense, and slip it through the fivehole of Keith Kinkaid.

Segals goal triggered a barrage of goals by the Connecticut Whale, as they finally turned their lackluster start around. A minute after Segal tied the game, J.T. Miller scored an absolute beauty of a goal to give the Whale the 2-1 lead halfway through the second period. Miller picked up the puck in the slot off of a pass from Chad Kolarik, and just undressed Adam Larsson completely, and flipped it over Kinkaid. Definitely the highlight of the night. Oh, and it was Miller's first professional goal of his career, pretty sweet goal to make it your first.

After relentless pressure throughout the second period, the Whale were able to widen their lead to 3-1, as Tommy Grant converted a defensive miscue at the Devils blue line. The Whale were able to take the 3-1 into the locker, and carried over their dominance to the third period.

Andrew Yogan picked up his first goal of the season on the power play, after a nice little snap shot beat Kinkaid over the shoulder. Kyle Jean scored his fourth of the season shortly there after, with a pretty little passing play between Marek Hrivik, and Brandon Segal.

The Devils capped off the scoring with a goal of their of their own on the power play, coming from Jacob Josefson. Jason Missiaen had a solid game in net tonight, to preserve the lead for the Whale throughout all three periods. The Whale will head back home, where they will host the Hershey Bears on Friday night.