ALBANY -- A new era of professional hockey didn't get off to the same start as the previous one, but the Albany Devils have 79 games to change that.


The Devils, who replaced the Albany River Rats as the Times Union Center's American Hockey League tenant, got off to a fast start Saturday night against the Adirondack Phantoms. They held a 12-0 advantage in shots before the Phantoms finally fired one at Albany goalie Jeff Frazee 17:03 into the game, but the momentum did not stay around.


Adirondack scored three times in the third period to spoil the Devils' debut in Albany, winning 5-3 in front of 5,235.


The Rats, who moved to Charlotte, N.C., in the off-season, won their inaugural game Oct. 8, 1993, 6-2 on the road against Rochester. They also won their home opener the following night against the same team, 9-3.


"Once you settle into a game, you've got to realize what's working and what's not," said Albany's Rick Kowalsky, who was making his AHL coaching debut. "We went the other way. We tapered off."


The Phantoms, who were stung by Binghanton 5-1 in their season opener Friday night, dominated the final two periods, outshooting the Devils 29-15 over the span and 31-29 for the game.


Ben Holmstrom scored the winning goal with 8:08 remaining, batting in a rebound of David Laliberte's shot. Zac Rinaldo added some insurance with 91 seconds to play, giving Adirondack the early lead in what will be a 12-game regular-season series between the Northway rivals.


"Our guys did a great job of remaining focused on what they had to do and how to get the job done," Adiorndack coach Greg Gilbert said. "We dug in even harder."


There were bright spots for Albany -- maybe not as brilliant as the new scoreboard and ribbon banner in the arena, but reason for encouragement.


Rookie David McIntyre, who scored three times in two exhibition victories over the Phantoms last weekend, added two goals in the regular-season opener, tying the score with 12:16 left.


Captain Stephen Gionta had a crowd-pleasing goal in the second, taking a rink-long pass from Olivier Magnan for a breakaway.


Indeed, these Devils have speed, but that might not have been the way to get past the Phantoms.


"It's just those pucks on the wall, where you have a chance to go through the pile instead of around it," Kowalsky said. "Even when we tied it up, the puck seemed to be bouncing a lot in the neutral zone, the guys seemed to be one-handing it and then trying to jump on the other side and be the hero. You can't do that in a tie game. We kept fighting our way back into it and finding a way to give it back to them."


"We needed to shoot the puck a little more in the late part of the game," McIntyre said. "They started doing a better job of filling the lanes and blocking shots, but we were trying to force plays a couple of times."


Pete Dougherty can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com. Visit the hockey blog at http://blog,timesunion.com/hockey.


BOX:


PHANTOMS 5, DEVILS 3


Adirondack 0 2 3 -- 5


Albany 1 1 1 -- 3


First period -- 1, Albany, McIntyre (Sestito, Gionta), 10:19. Penalties--Bourdon, Adk, major (fighting), 3:46; Wiseman, Alb, major (fighting), 3:46; Rinaldo, Adk (holding), 6:32; Testwuide, Adk (cross-checking), 7:05; Kalinski, Adk (hooking), 11:41; Sestito, Alb (hooking), 15:10; Palmieri, Alb (interference), 17:55.


Second period-- 2, Adirondack, Legein 1 (Lehtivouri, Kalinski), 2:15 (pp). 3, Adirondack, Kalinski 1 (Laliberte, Gustafson), 3:02. 4, Albany, Gionta 1 (Magnan), 16:38. Penalties--Davison, Alb (tripping), :44; Pither, Adk (holding), 4:26; Magnan, Alb (holding), 5:40; Davis, Alb (slashing), 10:24; Rinaldo, Adk, minor-major (tripping, fighting), 13:09; Bourdon, Adk (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:09; Alb, major (fighting), 13:09; Sestito, Alb, major (fighting), 13:09; Kelly, Alb, double minor (roughing, unsportsmanlike), 13:09; Stephenson, Adk (roughing), 14:31; Lehtivouri, Adk (holding), 17:43; Palmieri, Alb (hooking), 19:11; Mills, Alb (boarding), 19:24.


Third period -- 5, Adirondack, Maroon 2 (Testwuide, Bourdon), 7:09. 6, Albany, McIntyre 2 (Sestito, Vasyunov), 7:44. 7, Adirondack, Holmstrom 1 (Laliberte), 11:52. 8, Adirondack, Rinaldo 1 (Legein, Moore), 18:31. Penalties--Laliberte, Adk (holding), :51; Testwuide, Adk, major (fighting), 5:57; Corrente, Alb, major (fighting), 5:57.


Shots on goal -- Adirondack 2-11-18--31. Albany 14-6-9--29.


Power-play opportunities -- Adirondack 1 of 6; Albany 0 of 7.


Goalies -- Adirondack, Backlund 1-1-0 (29 shots-26 saves). Albany, Frazee 0-1-0 (31-26). T--2:17. A--5,235.


PULLOUT:


Phantoms 5


Devils 3