PORTLAND — The Portland Pirates (1-2) refused to quit and kept the intensity up in a dramatic 3-2 win to force a fourth game of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Manchester Monarchs (2-1) in American Hockey League action on Sunday.

Francis Wathier scored the game winner with just 2.9 seconds remaining in the third period to break the tie and give the Pirates their first win of the series.

The Pirates drew first blood when Phil Lane scored at 14:32 in the first period, assisted by Klas Dahlbeck and Philip Samuelsson. It was the first lead the Pirates had held in the series.

The Monarchs tied it up in the waning seconds of the frame when Michael Mersch scored a power play goal at 19:34 assisted by Colin Miller.

Jordan Weal gave the Monarchs a 2-1 lead at 5:28 in the second period with assists from Sean Backman and Zach O’Brien. The Pirates were able to tie it back up at two when Eric Selleck netted one at 12:50, assisted by Lucas Lessio and Dylan Reese.

The third period was filled with intensity, and the tie held until less than three seconds remained on the clock. Wathier scored, assisted by Brandon Gormley and Brendan Shinnimin.

Manchester goaltender Jean-Francois Berube (2-1) turned aside 20 shots in the loss, while Portland netminder Louis Domingue (1-1) had 31 saves.

Game four of the best-offive Calder Cup series will be held at the Cross Insurance Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. If necessary, the series will travel back to Manchester, N.H., for game five on Saturday at 7 p.m.