After three consecutive victories against Cholet, Courbevoie, and Neuilly-Sur-Marne, the Nice Hockey team fell this Saturday evening 6-5 against Tours, which was promoted this season, and lost two places in the standings (6th). A setback and a lot of goals conceded, a reaction is expected as early as Monday evening at home against Mont-Blanc.
A nightmare evening for the people of Nice that started very well, however. After 5 minutes of play, in a power play, Samuel Aquin gave the Eagles the lead (0-1). And, 5 minutes before the end of the first period, Martin Vojsovic doubled the score. Nice Hockey led 2-0 at the break.
After just 18 seconds of play in the second period, Nice captain Aurélien Macon allowed the Eagles to take off (0-3, 21st). Tours, struggling from the start of this game, could not accept such a collapse in front of their audience and fought back right after the Nice goal, reducing the score (1-3, 21st). The Remparts then capitalized on the penalty given to Vladimir Kubus to close the gap through Biroloni (2-3, 23rd). Once again equal on the ice, the score would also be leveled, as Tours nullified the lead (3-3, 24th). A second period literally failed from A to Z. Nice even had the audacity to concede a goal while on a power play. Tours, on a roll, took the lead for the first time in this match thanks to Chris Jones (4-3, 27th). Nice Hockey was shattered. After leading 3-0, they found themselves trailing 4-3, and it wasn’t over. Nothing went right, as Tours once again took advantage of its power play to hammer the point home through Kirner. The second period ended with a score of 5-3.
Upon returning to the ice, Mickael Lamothe, a Tours player, received a 12-minute penalty for a hit to the head after only 16 seconds of play. The Nice player, Milan Varga, took advantage of this power play and allowed the team from Nice to continue hoping, (5-4, 42nd). The game started to balance, but not for long. Within 50 seconds, three Nice players received penalties: Aurélien Maçon, Milan Varga, and Alexis Besson—all penalized. Thus, it was 2 against 5 on the ice for Nice Hockey in Tours. The sanction was immediate, and Matej Kiska restored a 2-goal lead for his team (6-4, 53rd). With a little less than ten minutes left for a Nice comeback, but to no avail. At the very end of the game, Samuel Aquin scored for Nice, then too on a power play, but it remained anecdotal. Final score 6-5 for the Tours Remparts.
Nice Hockey might have some regrets after conceding many penalties. A perfect first period, leading 3-0, but a heavy score of 6-5 that will be hard to digest for the people of Nice. However, the Azuréens won’t have much time to dwell as they play again on Monday evening, at home against Mont Blanc.
Kevin Chifflet
