ALBANY — In his first professional game, Jan Mandat scored the tie-breaking goal with 10:23 remaining Saturday night to lift the Albany Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Utica Comets in front of 2,973 at Times Union Center.

The Devils improved to 4-0-0, the first time that an Albany AHL team has won its first four games. The Albany River Rats of 1993-94, 1996-97 and 1998-99 all won their first three games and lost their fourth. The 1994-95 River Rats opened 4-0-3, back before the league adopted the shootout to break ties.

Albany improved its all-time regular-season record against the Comets to 13-0-2.

Mandat, a 20-year-old center from the Czech Republic who played the past three seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, skated into the zone and through the slot, rifling a shot past Utica goaltender Thatcher Demko, who was playing his second pro game.

Power-play goals staked Albany to a 2-0 lead by the 3:19 mark of the second. Reece Scarlett connected on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line in the first period. Rookie John Quenneville got his third of the season, picking a corner over Demko’s left shoulder, early in the second.

The lead did not hold up. The Devils gave up a 2-on-1, which resulted in a shorthanded breakaway for Michael Chaput, the younger brother of former Rats forward Stephane Chaput. Utica tied it 2½ minutes into the third as Derek Hulak capitalized on a turnover and floated one past Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood, who improved to 3-0 on the season.

The Devils held a 27-20 advantage in shots, the first time this season that they have outshot an opponent.