The Eagles of Nice hosted Amiens this Sunday evening at their Jean Bouin rink for the end of the 14th day of the Ligue Magnus. Lacking in efficiency, they suffered a new defeat (1-3) against Amiens, a team well within their reach.
With both home games this weekend lost, they are now at the second-to-last place in the standings. Time to start asking questions.
From the first period, the Nice team showed clumsiness in constructing the game, notably with multiple puck losses in the center of the field.
Despite a shot attempt in the first minute by Spelda, Amiens remained unfazed and found the net (4:21) thanks to their top scorer, Yannick Riendeau assisted by Joël Champagne.
After this opening goal, Stan Sutor’s players showed signs of nervousness, exemplified by Lauris Bajarus who received a two-minute penalty for holding. Amiens launched multiple attacks but the Nice defense can thank their goalie, Tom Charton, who kept their team in the game.
Nice equalized through Lauris Bajarus (8:42).
Returning from the locker room, the Eagles came on strong but lacked accuracy in front of the Gothiques’ goal.
Hamarak missed the target on several occasions and his teammates struggled against their opponents’ physicality, like Biroline who got up with difficulty. The game from Nice lacked fluidity. The Côte d’Azur team had possession, but the Amiens’ defense held strong, taking advantage of Nice’s inefficiency.
This lack of finishing is especially cruel as the Gothiques increased their lead with a goal by Yannick Riendeau, assisted by Joel Champagne (32:55) even though they were one man down.
The game got tougher and the return to the locker room was tense between Joel Champagne and Yoanne Lacheny.
The Gothiques focused on managing their lead in the final period despite Nice’s attacks. Tom Charton even kept his team’s hopes alive in coming back by blocking a puck that flirted with the goal line.
Amiens played on the counter-attack and delivered the final blow in the last minute with Yannick Riendeau scoring into an empty Nice net.
Despite the loss, Stan Sutor and Aurélien Macon agree: “Not everything should be discarded, the group is doing well, we must keep believing.”
by Loïc Bailles
