Ligue Magnus: heavy defeat for Nice Eagles beaten 7-1 against Grenoble

Faced with a major Ligue Magnus team, the Eagles only put up a fight during the first period. Largely outmatched afterwards, they suffer a heavy defeat and concede their largest loss of the season. (7-1)

The Eagles of Nice are alternating the good and the not so good at the start of this season. Beaten against Rouen then against Chamonix two weeks ago, the Nice players had reacted in the best possible way by winning at home against Angers last week. (3-1)

6th in Ligue Magnus before their evening match against Grenoble, the Maralpin players could hope to break into the top 5 with a win. But the task was not going to be simple at the Polesud Ice Rink in Grenoble against one of the best teams in Ligue Magnus in recent years.

French champions two years ago and finalists last season, the Grenoble Brûleurs de Loups were in 3rd place before kick-off, and could take the leader’s seat with a win against Nice.

From the start, Grenoble’s pressure was felt on Alexis Shank’s cage, but the Nice goalkeeper didn’t give in. As the minutes went by, this first period became balanced, and both teams multiplied their chances without managing to find the back of the net.

It took until the 17th minute to see the first goal of the match. It came from Guillaume Leclerc, well served on the right side of the cage by Nicolas Deschamps and Téo Sarliève, 1-0 for Grenoble.

At the end of the first period, the Nice players had two minutes with a man advantage, but they failed to capitalize on this powerplay despite numerous chances. With 13 shots to 8, the dominance was Nice’s, but the Brûleurs de Loups were more realistic. (1-0)

A completely failed return to the ice

The second period was catastrophic for the Eagles. Barely 30 seconds after returning to the ice, Sacha Treille doubled the lead one meter from the cage with a shot that bounced off Alexis Shank. (2-0)

Very quickly, things got complicated for the Côte d’Azur players. While shorthanded, they conceded two goals in two minutes. François Beauchemin scored with a nice team play while Aurélien Dair took advantage of a major scramble in front of the Nice cage to beat Alexis Shank, powerless. (4-0)

After only six minutes of play and three goals conceded in this second period, Marc-André Levesque decided to call a timeout to rally his troops. This timeout had the desired effect, stopping the bleeding for a few minutes and rebalancing the game.

With a man advantage in the middle of the second period, the Eagles came back into the game thanks to Alexandre Gagnon, assisted by Samuel Régis and Fletcher Anderson. (4-1)

But the euphoria was short-lived, barely a minute after the hope-giving goal, the Côte d’Azur players cracked again twice. Valentin Grossetete and Sacha Treille sent the Polesud ice rink crowd wild by propelling the puck into the Nice goal one after another. (6-1)

A sad end to the match

Dejected, the Nice players failed to end the match on a high note. Despite several powerplay periods in the third period, the Eagles conceded another goal. It was Nicolas Deschamps, assisted by Téo Sarliève, who sealed the success of the Brûleurs de Loups in a third period lacking rhythm. (7-1)

The balance sheet of this match is heavy for the Eagles. They failed to capitalize on a good first period and suffered the wrath of Grenoble for the rest of the match. They will need to refocus in the French Cup against the Yetis of HC Mont-Blanc, members of D1. Kick-off Tuesday, October 20 at 8 p.m.