AUBURN — It was one of those nights for the Edward Little hockey team Saturday.

Still, it was an evening that the Red Eddies managed to salvage despite struggling against a game Cony team. EL fell behind early but rallied in the second before getting the game-winner in the final period for a 3-2 victory over the Rams.

“We didn’t play a good hockey game,” said EL coach Craig Latuscha. “We came out really flat. They put two goals in on us. We weren’t playing good defense. We  came out a little better in the second period. Still, out of the entire season so far, that was not our best hockey game. We put it together as much as we needed to. They say good teams sometimes find a way to win. That’s not a great win, but we’ll take it.”

Mat Gordon had the game-winner just 51 seconds into the third period. Goalie Rich Belanger made some key stops down the stretch and finished with 20 saves. Jared Pelletier had a goal and an assist while Dylan Nadeau had a pair of assists.

“We never gave up,” said Gordon. “We kept working hard and came back.”

Cony (3-9) took advantage of a lackluster EL start to build a 2-0 lead. Josh Zayac converted a pass out of the corner for a shot on the left side at 7:22. Then with 2:07 left in the period, Dakota Bowie capitalized on poor puckhandling and turned his aggressive forecheck into a shorthanded goal.

“We made all kinds of mistakes,” said Latuscha, whose team beat Cony 8-6 earlier in the year and now have won five in a row. “They were mistakes I haven’t seen all season. We kind of looked past them a little bit. We had beaten them before, and we were on a roll a little bit. A team has to understand that no matter what a team’s record is, a team like Cony, they have some good players, can beat anybody. ”

EL (8-3) got one back early in the second with a shorthanded tally. Pelletier buried a backhander at 5:53 to create a buzz on the EL bench.

“That was a huge momentum builder, being down 2-0 after the first period and scoring one goal early,” said Gordon.

With 4:08 left in the second, EL had its best effort on the power play and got the equalizer on a shot by Cody Russell from the right circle. Belanger got the assist as Russell rushed the puck up ice from the defensive zone.

“We came back in the second period and had all the momentum going on our side going into the third period,” said Gordon. “We just scored one more.”

The intermission break didn’t cool EL’s momentum. A scramble in front of the goal in the first minute of play led to the game-winner. Gordon was in the right place at the right time to put in a rebound on the right side.

“I just sat on the far post,” said Gordon. “The puck got behind the goalie, and I was right there to put it in. Someone took a shot, and it snuck between the goalie’s legs.”

Cony had its chances to tie it. Zayac had a bid with 11:19 left when he broke in for a shot that Belanger stopped. Luke Duncklee had a pair of breakaways in the final minutes. He had a shorthanded chance with 1:13 left but shot it right at Belanger. Then after another sloppy handling of the puck by EL, he slipped past two defenders for a shot that Belanger stopped.

“Our goalie came up big tonight and saved our butt a little bit,” said Latuscha.

Cony tried pulling the goalie in the final minute but hampered its cause when Zayac took a roughing penalty with 44 seconds left.

“Good teams can win when they don’t play their best games, and that’s what we did tonight,” said Gordon.