The Nice team achieved a real feat on the ice rink of the Gap Raptors. A team renowned in Ligue Magnus, the Gapençais were largely favored.
Two teams occupying the lower half of the standings. Gap and Nice are not in great form in this year 2023. Ranked 9th and 10th respectively, both teams needed to earn points this evening.
In the first period, the Raptors started aggressively. They scored the first goal during a power play through Bostjan Golicic (3’). Barely five minutes later, it was Jordan Mugnier‘s turn to increase the locals’ lead. Nice paid for their indiscipline and conceded again, once more on a power play, a third goal. This time it was Julien Correia who found the target (3-0). It seemed the match would be long for the Eagles, who were not in the game at the start. Perhaps remnants of the disappointment against Bordeaux on Friday…
The Eagles turn the match around
The walls must have shaken during the break. Upon returning from the locker room, Frantisek Stolc‘s men came back with better intentions. This was reflected on the scoreboard with a goal from Marc-Andre Levesque (8’). The Nice team gradually regained confidence while a slight relaxation could be felt from the other side. Nice took advantage and scored another goal by Mikael Kuronen (12’). Hope was slowly reborn. And when Jesper Larinmaa managed to convert his penalty, the ice rink seemed stunned. Nice had drawn level (3-3). Everything had to be redone for Gap, and the hope of achieving good results resurfaced on the Nice side.
Everything would be decided in the third and final period. And it was Nice who would capitalize on two power plays to gain the lead. Ivan Esipov and Norbert Abramov brought the score to (5-3) in favor of the Eagles. Hardly imaginable when recalling the disastrous start of the Nice team. Both teams committed many fouls, and Gap took advantage to come back in this now completely crazy game. Sébastien Rohat brought the Raptors within one goal of Nice (5-4). With three minutes left in the match, the Gapençais even thought they had the puck for the equalizer, but Nikita Bespalov intervened brilliantly. Going all out, Gap left themselves open and handed the victory and an ultimate goal in the empty net to Marc-Andre Levesque for a double.
Nice ultimately won (6-4) for their third match of the week. The next meeting for the Eagles is on Friday, December 1st, at home against the formidable Grenoble team (8 PM).
