PORTLAND – Andrej Podkonicky probably didn’t think he’d have to hustle back to the offensive zone.

He set up a breakaway that looked like it might produce the overtime winner, but when Albany’s Ari Ahonen made back-to-back sprawling saves, Podkonicky’s presence around the net paid off.

After Ahonen kept the River Rats alive in overtime with a pair of game-saving saves on Josef Boumedienne and Brad Parsons, Podkonicky snuck a shot off Ahonen’s shoulder and inside the right post for the game-winner with 3:25 left in a 3-2 victory.

“I saw him, and he was kind of down, Podkonicky said of his fourth of the season. “He didn’t see the puck. I thought I’d shoot it at the net and hope something happened.”

The win extended Portland’s unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2), a stark turnaround from the 1-7-2 stretch less than a month ago.

“It’s a nice win to kind of keep things going here,” said Pirates coach Tim Army. “We played really well. We were up 2-0. They had two power play goals, but on two broken plays. You could feel at 2-2 that it kind of took a little air out of our bench, but I thought the last five minutes we got back to playing a little more aggressive.”

Albany had tied the game with 6:56 left in regulation. A bad bounce off the boards allowed Adrian Foster to move the puck to the point while he set a screen in front. Aleksander Suglobov’s shot snuck past Rastislav Stana inside the left post.

Portland created plenty of chances late in regulation, but Ahonen preserved the tie. In overtime, Podkonicky’s backhand pass sent Boumedienne in alone. The defenseman tried every move in the book to beat Ahonen, but the goaltender made the save. The puck laid out front for Parsons, who watched his bid get knocked down as well. The puck went behind the net and worked its way back to Podkonicky at the right circle.

“I just threw it out there and Boomer got it,” said Podkonicky. “He made a great move, but he hit the goalie’s stick. Pars had the empty net, and he hit the goalie again. I just shot it at the net, and it hit his shoulder and went in. It was kind of a lucky shot.”

Portland built a 2-0 lead on a pair of Graham Mink goals. His first came with 4:39 left in the opening period. He one-armed the puck around from the back of the net with a defender all over him. The puck skidded through the crease where Darcy Verot put it off the right post. Mink then steered it over the goal line.

Mink made it 2-0 just 17 seconds into the second with a wrister.

Albany cut the deficit at 6:08 on the power play. Foster fed an open Joe Hulbig on the right side. With Stana down, he had an open net.

Albany had two late power plays and cashed in on the second.

“Sometimes when you get in that prevent defense, you’re trying to hold onto that 2-1 lead and you get back on year heels,” said Army. “We got those two penalties, but we got back with it in the last five minutes and got our game back.”

PIRATES NOTES: Portland has scored the first goal in nine of its last 10 games. With Saturday’s shutout, the Pirates already have six this season, five at home. Portland set the AHL mark last year with nine home shutouts.

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