Ligue Magnus: Brûleurs de Loups assert their superiority against Nice Eagles

Three days from the end of the regular season, the Nice Eagles were chasing fourth place, which would guarantee home advantage for the quarterfinals. Facing Grenoble, who are playing for a top 2 finish, the task promised to be difficult.

As the end of the regular season approaches rapidly, the Nice team, already qualified for the playoffs, continued their steady progress in Ligue Magnus. Authors of their best ranking this year since their arrival in the top division nine years ago, the Nice Eagles were in full confidence. On four consecutive victories, including the last one after overtime against Cergy-Pontoise on Friday, the Maralpins were aiming for a fifth consecutive win to continue climbing the standings. An objective not obvious to achieve when one knows that the evening’s opponent, Grenoble, had 13 consecutive wins against the Azureans.

After a start to the match where both teams assessed each other, Teemu Loizeau, completely forgotten by the Wolves defense, was set up by Jordan Mugnier for the opening goal (0-1). The local defense was struggling in the opening minutes and the Nice Eagles took advantage to prove dangerous on their various attacks.

The Azureans managed to repel Grenoble’s attempts on the wings, which complicated matters for the Isérois. It took until halfway through the first period to see a big opportunity for the Wolves initiated by Pierre Crinon, well blocked by Alexis Shank, very solid at the start of the match. While Grenoble finished the first period well, it was Nice, to everyone’s surprise, that was leading the way.

The Awakening of the Wolves

The second period started off on a false rhythm like at the beginning of the match. As the minutes went by, the Wolves were pushing but the Eagles defense held firm. More efficient in one-on-ones, Nice managed to get good opportunities in the Grenoble defensive zone but got caught out by Beauchemin, who escaped the Eagles defense. Just barely onside, he was well set up by Christophe Boivin, who had seen the gap in the middle and allowed his teammate to equalize (1-1). A logical goal in the match’s flow, which completely changed in five minutes. Under pressure, the Nice team committed their first penalty in what had been a very clean match until then. While short-handed, they were still close to catching their opponents on a counter-attack.

Grenoble struggled to get chances apart from one action well stopped by Alexis Shank and poorly handled by the Grenoble attack on the rebound. Back on the powerplay, the Wolves proved dangerous. The Nice goaltender staved off the threat but had to give way to a shot from the right side by Christophe Boivin that went between his legs (2-1). Unfortunate, especially since the Azureans were close to surprising their opponents on the previous action.

Nevertheless, the Eagles remained waiting in the wings and capable of making up their deficit. With 1 minute 30 left, still trailing, the Nice team decided to play without a goaltender to make a difference. Without success. Grenoble wins (2-1) in a well-fought match. The Nice team showed their ability to come and challenge the biggest teams in this Ligue Magnus.

In the standings, the Nice team had to wait for the end of the Marseille match to know if they would remain 5th or 6th. With this loss, it will now be difficult to go after 4th place to secure home advantage in the quarterfinals.

Next match for the Nice Eagles: Wednesday, March 4 at home at 8 p.m. They will face the Amiens Gothics in a match with no real stakes, except to prepare well for the playoffs.