Friday's Cornell-Union game was very entertaining game, and I hope viewers locally on Time Warner Cable Sports channel 3 and nationally on NHL Network enjoyed it.

There was plenty of speed, lots of hitting and good offensive chances.

"It was a great hockey game," Union coach Nate Leaman said. "I thought it was one of the best league games that we've been a part of."

But what ruined it for Leaman and the Dutchmen was the specialty teams. The Big Red's were excellent; the Dutchmen's were not.

Cornell scored on its first two power-play attempts, and then were nearly perfect on the penalty kill. That, and the 28 saves goalie Ben Scrivens made, helped the fifth-ranked Big Red to a 4-1 ECAC Hockey win over the Dutchmen.

"I thought there were two differences in the game," Leaman said, "the first being the specialty teams, [and] the second one being Ben Scrivens. I thought he played very well.

"I thought we played great, except they won the specialty teams. That's why they're the first-place team."

Cornell was 2-for-4 on the power play. Union was just 1 of 7.

The Dutchmen's special teams have been inconsistent all season. They are 16 of 119 on the power play, and their 13.4 percentage ranks them ninth. The penalty kill is next to last at 80.5 percent (103 of 128).

Meanwhile, the Big Red are ranked fifth on the power play (13 of 79, 16.5 percent), and third on the penalty kill (77 of 86, 89.5 percent).

And, as Leaman said, that is why Cornell (7-0-2 ECACH, 12-1-3 overall) is at the top of the standings, and the Dutchmen (4-5, 11-9-1) are in eighth place.

"If we want to get up there and be an upper-echelon team in this league — five-on-five, I think we're there," Leaman said. "But specialty teams, we need to a better job."

Big play

Evan Barlow scored Cornell's second power-play goal midway through the first period. But before that, he prevented Union from getting the tying goal.

On a delayed penalty against Union's Adam Presizniuk, Scrivens went to the bench for an extra attacker. Once a Dutchmen touched the puck, the play would be whistled dead. The only way Union could score a goal in that situation is if Cornell put the puck into its own open net.

Well, it almost happened. A errant pass got past Barlow just inside the Cornell zone, and the puck was sliding toward the open net. It looked like the Dutchmen were going to get a gift goal.

But Barlow skated as fast as he could, dove and managed to sweep the puck away just before it got to the goal line.

"It took me a while to get going there," Barlow said. "I think I could have gotten it by the hash marks, if I had gotten my feet under me. I was lucky enough to get enough speed to get it by the goal line."

Asked if he thought he could get there, Barlow said, "I knew I had to get there."

Three stars

1) Ben Scrivens — 28 saves, and he is a great goalie.
2) Riley Nash — assisted on Cornell's power-play goals, and scored empty-netter to seal the win.
3) Blake Gallagher — two assists.

That's all from here. I'll catch you Saturday night, when Union hosts Colgate.

And, for the first time in 2009, I can say, "Good Night! Good Hockey!"