The Eagles of Nice win the top-of-the-table clash. Victors 5-3 in Nantes, the team from Nice take the third place from the Nantes team and move onto the podium. The Nice Hockey team delivers one of its best performances of the season, managing two consecutive victories.
Expectations were high for the nets to shake, and they were met. Both teams, struggling defensively yet strong offensively, continued this trend. The first period ended with a scoreless 0-0, but it wouldn’t last. The two teams, neck and neck in the championship, observed each other for 20 minutes.
The second period was completely different. With a power play following a two-minute penalty for a Nantes player, Karri Koivu opened the scoring for Nice at the half-hour mark (30th minute, 0-1).
Nice Hockey took the lead, but not for long. Sixty seconds later, Nantes had their turn at a power play after a penalty on Nice’s Stanislas Aubert for obstruction. Samson Samson equalized for Nantes (32nd minute, 1-1). The Nantes Corsairs even took the lead just one minute after tying the game. Charly Brugiere allowed his club to head into the break with a one-goal advantage (33rd minute, 2-1).
But the Nice team’s resilience would not be underestimated. The previous week, Nice Hockey had waited until the third period to make their move. The team replicated this strategy on the Nantes ice rink. The third period was thoroughly controlled by the Eagles, with Cesar Fleury enabling his team to get back into the game (46th minute, 2-2). Only 15 seconds later, Karri Koivu scored again to put Nice back in the lead. It was a double for the Finn (46th minute, 2-3).
The Eagles, then in the lead, conceded a power play goal, once again demonstrating the defensive difficulties the club has faced since the beginning of the season. Nantes’ Dominic Perna leveled the score once more (51st minute, 3-3). The Nice team did not let this discourage them; quite the contrary. Yoanne Lacheny regained the lead for his team (53rd minute, 3-4). At the very end of the match, with 40 seconds to the final buzzer, Nice’s Vladimir Kubus dashed the hopes of the Nantes team by scoring the last goal of the game (59th minute, 3-5). A very important victory against a contender for a Top 4 finish at the end of the season. The Eagles achieve a solid standing, as they now have a 5 point lead over the 6th place team after the 11th day of the competition. In a week, they will host Reims, 8th, who were heavily defeated at their rink, 9-2, by Anglet, Division 1 leaders.
Kevin Chifflet
