Portland forward Wade Megan and goalie Mike McKenna reached team milestones Friday night, but Connor Brickley stole the show by scoring his seventh goal of the season on a power play with 1:52 left to lift the Pirates to a 4-3 win against the Springfield Falcons at the Cross Insurance Arena.

Megan set up Brickley’s late-game heroics by scoring his franchise-record sixth short-handed goal of the season to forge a 3-3 tie.

Portland’ Kyle Rau tries to get his stick on the puck in front of the Springfield goal during the Pirates’ 5-3 win Friday at Cross Insurance Arena. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

McKenna made 41 saves to notch his 79th win in a Portland jersey, tying the franchise record set by Martin Brochu, who played for the Pirates in parts of five seasons.

Portland had to come from behind three times to pull out its third consecutive win. The Pirates have earned points in seven of their last nine games to remain very much alive in the race for playoff berth in the AHL’s Eastern Conference.

“It was absolutely a game of perseverance,” Portland Coach Scott Allen said. “They exposed our defensive zone and that was certainly disappointing, but I just felt if we could hang in there and keep it within one (goal) the whole way through we could continue to battle and battle. That is exactly what we did. We found a way to win.”

The Falcons, who now have lost five games in a row to remain in the Atlantic Division cellar, held a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.

Less than five minutes in, Dylan Reese, a veteran defenseman who had 10 goals and 30 assists while playing 70 games for the Pirates last season, got his stick on a rebound and put in a shot from the right circle for his first goal of the season. Three weeks ago, he returned to the Springfield lineup full-time after missing the first five months of the season earlier because of an unspecified injury during the offseason.

Less than two minutes later, Chase Balisy tied the score when he jammed in a rebound following a two-on-one break with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. It was Balisy’s eighth goal.

With less than eight minutes left, defenseman Derek Smith tipped in a rebound for his second goal after McKenna stopped Henrik Samuelsson’s slap shot from the top of the right circle.

Portland got a chance to score the equalizer during a power play that lasted 4:37, including two segments with a two-man advantage. Springfield goalie made Niklas Treutle made five saves to help kill off the three penalties.

Less than eight minutes into the second period, Rob Schremp made it 2-2 when he scored his team-high 20th goal on a wrist shot from the slot 19 seconds after stepping out of the penalty box.

Three minutes into the third period, Stefan Fournier sent the Falcons back into the lead when he tipped Greg Carey’s blast from just inside the blue line past McKenna after rookie center Laurent Dauphin won a faceoff in the left circle.

“(Springfield) played well enough to win,” Allen said. “They’re playing the spoiler role and we can’t allow that to happen.”

Less than three minutes after the Falcons moved into the lead, Megan tied the score with his short-handed goal to break the franchise record set by Trent Whitfield during the 2002-03 season.

“I’m just glad he was able to break the record in a win,” Allen said. “It means something when you do it in a winning cause.”

NOTES: A total of 11 Falcons suited up last season for the Pirates, who were in their third and final season as an affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes … Attendance was reported at 4,237 … The Pirates are now 6-2-0-1 against the Falcons this season.

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