TROY — As the Albany Devils saw their five-game season-opening winning streak end Wednesday night in a 3-1 road loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, among the scratches was second-year center Joe Blandisi.

Blandisi, spent a majority of his rookie pro season in the NHL, was not injured. It simply was a coach’s decision.

“He’s just got to be better,” Devils coach Rick Kowalsky said Thursday after practice at the Knickerbacker Ice Arena. “It’s early in the season, and his play without the puck, away from the puck … he’s got to play more of a straight-line game. It’s been creeping into his game a little more here. We just had to sit him down. We showed him video. He understands. He’s just got to be better.”

Blandisi has a goal and two assists in five games although he is carrying a minus-2 rating.

Injury report

Forwards Carter Camper (upper body) and Ryan Kujawinski (lower body) were scratched because of injuries. Both likely will remain sidelined for home games Friday and Saturday against the Toronto Marlies, although Kowalsky said there is a slight chance Kujawinski could play.

The morning after

The Penguins entered Wednesday night’s game with a 3-1-0 record and ready for the Devils, who were the AHL’s lone unbeaten team at 5-0-0.

“We didn’t have our legs,” said Kowalsky, whose team fell behind 3-0 after two periods. “We found them a bit the second half of the game. We didn’t manage the puck, we didn’t support the puck. They were ready to play us, and we weren’t sharp. We didn’t execute our game plan, and they did to a T, and they won all the races and battles. We ended up just chasing the game. They had the puck most of the night. We didn’t have much going on.”