ALBANY, N.Y. — The Portland Pirates used an Andy Miele goal in the third period to tie the game and force a shootout, ultimately defeating the
Albany Devils  5-4 in an AHL game at the Times Union Center on Saturday.

Miele scored twice for the Pirates on the night and Alexandre Bolduc had a 3 pointnight in the victory.

Portland ratcheted up the pressure in the third period, putting 14 more shots on net. Miele beat goalie Jeff Frazee for a second time with 5:48 to go in regulation, tying the game at 4. Mike Lee took over for Portland, making a series of fantastic saves in the third period and overtime, forcing the game into a shootout.

Mike Lee allowed his first shootout goal of the season after coming into the game a perfect 9 for 9 in shootout saves, but Ethan Werek scored the deciding shootout tally to give the Pirates the 5-4 win. Portland improved to 5-2 in shootouts this season, while Albany dropped to 3 -11 on the year.

With the win, Portland improves to 37-25-3-2 on the year and moves five points ahead of both Connecticut and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. Mike Lee snapped a personal four-game losing streak, stopping all 12 shots he faced in relief of Visentin for his seventh win of the season.

The Pirates get back to action next Friday night, when they face the Manchester Monarchs in a winner take all 12th game of the VIP Cup Series.