PLATTSBURGH -- Everything was looking pretty good for the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team after two periods of its State University of New York Athletic Conference opener with Fredonia at the Stafford Ice Arena Friday night.

The Cardinals held a 29-13 shot advantage and a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard after the first 40 minutes of play.

But, then it got interesting in the third period when the Blue Devils scored two power-play goals in the first 1:14 and had the hosts on the run.

Bryan Hince, however, came up big in net for the Cardinals, who then scored two power-play goals of their own later on to wrap up a 5-2 win.

"Fredonia is a tough team to play," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "They force you into making mistakes.

"But, it was a good win for us because we were able to battle back from some adversity."

Fredonia (2-2-1, 0-1) opened the third period skating with a five-on-three advantage.

Chris de Bruyn's slapshot from the slot pulled the Blue Devils to within 3-1 and then Matt McKeown took a pass down low to make it a one-goal game at 1:14.

But, that's when Hince answered the call for the Cardinals with some key saves.

"It's not how many saves a goaltender makes, but when he makes them," said Emery. "Hince made the key saves when we needed him to and answered the bell."

Fredonia then took a too many men on the ice penalty and the Cardinals went to work.

Joey Wilson, who had a big game, slammed in a rebound at 6:16 to put Plattsburgh State back up by two and Phil Farrow tallied a power-play goal with 36 seconds left in the contest to give the Cardinals a three-goal edge.

"We did a lot of great things offensively," Emery said. "How many times did we hit the post tonight?

"But, we took a dumb penalty near the end of the second period and we can't go down two skaters."

The Cardinals (2-0, 1-0) grabbed the lead at 7:49 of the first period when Riley Hill took a pass down low and scored a power-play goal.