After a win on Tuesday in Anglet, the Nice Eagles wanted to follow up this Friday night against Rouen at the Jean Bouin ice rink as part of the 16th day of the championship. Dominated from start to finish, the Niçois suffered a heavy defeat (1-5).
The Niçois finally got back to winning ways last Tuesday, on the Anglet ice rink, at the end of a very challenging match (6-5). The Nice Eagles now hope to secure a victory on their home ice. However, the task doesn’t look easy this Friday night, as Nice hosts Rouen, the current leader of the Magnus league. The Dragons have only lost twice this season and are on a streak of three consecutive wins in the championship.
The Rouen leader immediately set the pace at the start of the game. Quite logically, the Dragons opened the scoring in the 8th minute through Rolands Vigners (0-1). The Niçois couldn’t create real goal-scoring chances. Nikita Bespalov kept the Aiglons in the game.
The Niçois logically trailing
The beginning of the second period was much like the first. Dragons’ domination was rewarded with a goal in the 25th minute by Dylan Yeo (0-2). Again, the Eagles struggled in their offensive actions. Rouen widened the gap through a nice collective play three minutes before the end of the second period, finished by Francis Hardy-Perron (0-3).
Frantisek Stolc’s men, therefore, faced a significant deficit before the start of the last period. Rouen continued its lead with a new goal in the 45th minute by Sacha Guimond (0-4). The match turned into a true demonstration by the Dragons. After a video review, the Dragons scored a fifth goal in the encounter by Milan Kytnar (0-5) in the 49th minute. The referee initially whistled for a charge against the Nice goalkeeper. Nice salvaged some pride shortly after, with a double power play, thanks to Roope Reini (1-5). The score remained unchanged. The Niçois justifiably lose to the Rouen leader.
The next championship match for the Niçois is on November 17. The Eagles will host Cergy Pontoise at the Jean Bouin ice rink, as part of the 17th day of the championship. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
