LEWISTON — The Albany Devils carried play just enough to pull out a 4-3 shootout win against the Portland Pirates before a small crowd of 1,924 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee Friday night.

During the shootout, Reid Boucher, Joe Whitney and Stefan Matteau scored for the Devils during the shootout, while Andy Miele and Branden Yip hit the net for the Pirates.

The Pirates rallied from a two-goal deficit to send the game into overtime.

“It was a momentum game,” Portland Coach Ray Edwards said. “There were a lot of different shifts of momentum.”

The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period.

The Pirates started fast. Following a turnover in his own end, Portland’s Jordan Martinook went coast to coast before lifting the puck past goalie Keith Kincaid for his ninth goal of the season just 26 seconds into the game.

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Ten minutes later, Albany’s Scott Timmins stole the puck and lifted a shot from the bottom of the right circle past Mark Visentin for his 11th goal.

The Devils moved into a 3-1 lead less than four minutes into the second period.

Reid Boucher snapped the tie by lifting a shot into the right side of the net as Albany overwhelmed the Pirates during its first foray into the Portland end.

Two minutes later, Tim Sestito sent the puck directly into the goal for his 12th of the season off a faceoff in the left circle.

With less than eight minutes left in the period, Brendan Shinnimin scored the Pirates’ ninth short-handed goal of the season after stealing the puck inside the neutral zone. It was Shinnimin’s 12th goal of the season and his seventh goal in the last eight games.

Rookie Tobias Rieder sent the game into overtime when he scored his 22nd goal of the season just 21 seconds into the Pirates’ fourth power play, making it 3-3 with less than five minutes left in the third period.

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“We hung around the game and found a way to tie it,” Edwards said. “I wouldn’t say we were great, but our guys battled hard.” 

NOTES: NHL Hall of Famer and five-time Stanley Cup winner Jari Kurri scouted the game. Kurri is the general manager of Jokerit in Finland’s top league as well as for the Finnish national team, the bronze medalist in the recently completed Winter Olympics. …

John Mitchell, a 6-foot-5, 216-pound left wing who came over from the Hershey Bears in the trade for Chris Brown, suited up for the Pirates.

He skated on a line with veterans Brandon Yip at right wing and Tim Kennedy at center. …

With the call-up of Brandon Gormley and the trade of David Rundblad and Mathieu Brisebois to the Chicago Blackhawks’ organization, the Pirates had only five defensemen available for action.

Mark Louis, who is making the transition to right wing this season, skated a regular shift at his old position.


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