For the fourth day of the Ligue Magnus, the Nice Eagles defeated the Angers Dukes (2-1), who were first in the standings, this Tuesday at Jean Bouin. A well-deserved major victory, the first at home this season, after a very intense match.
Second victory of the season in four matches for the Eagles. And what a victory! Especially against the leader, the Angers Dukes. After two initial defeats at the start of the championship, the Nice Hockey Elite team managed to bounce back with this success, the second consecutive one after winning away against Briançon (2-4).
Nice withstands but resists for 40 minutes
Despite the players’ enthusiasm and some skillful moves, no action resulted in goals during the first twenty minutes. Angers entered the game well and gave the Nice defense a hard time. Fortunately, goalkeeper Rok Stojanovič (Nice) kept a vigilant watch in the net.
Stanislav Sutor’s men responded, offering good gameplay and some nice actions. Two minutes before the end of the first period, Peter Hrehorčák found himself alone in front of the Angers goalkeeper, Florian Hardy, during a counterattack. Unfortunately, the Slovak international missed his shot. 0-0 at the end of the first period.
In the second period, a collective action from the Dukes led to a shot hitting the post. Nice got lucky but continued to endure pressure. Especially since Boris Brincko received a two-minute penalty.
The relief comes at the end
The match seemed increasingly complicated for the Azurens. To most supporters, the worst was yet to come. But against all odds, Alexis Sutor (Nice) found a gap in the Angers defense. The Franco-Slovak scored in the 38th minute, Nice led 1-0 against Angers, here at Jean Bouin.
At the beginning of the third period, the Nice team pushed further with a second goal by Loïc Chabert following an error by the Angers goalkeeper. 2-0 after 42 minutes. Then, the locals made some mistakes leading to the expulsion of Ondrej Kopta and Jakub Matai for two minutes.
Soon after, Angers narrowed the gap through Tommy Giroux. Number 13 allowed his team to come back to 2-1 with enough time remaining to equalize or even win. But with a serious and focused defense, Nice did not concede any more goals until the end.
The buzzer sounded. Celebration for the Eagles who prevailed 2-1 against the Angers leader. A superb victory that rewards the solid performance of the locals and boosts the team’s confidence before the next match at Cergy-Pontoise (October 9).
“Despite all the penalties we endured, we managed to win this match and it’s fantastic. We were solid in defense, we didn’t rush, and we scored even though we were a bit lucky on the second goal,” analyzed coach Stanislav Sutor, visibly pleased with his team’s performance.
