At home, the Nice Eagles had to lift their heads tonight at Jean-Bouin as part of the 17th day of the Ligue Magnus. Against the Jokers of Cergy-Pontoise, a misstep was forbidden.
Bounce back. That was the watchword tonight after the home defeat conceded against Rouen. What better or more dangerous way to revive themselves than to host a team in great difficulty in this first third of the Ligue Magnus season: the Jokers of Cergy-Pontoise. With twelve consecutive defeats since the start of the 2025/2026 season, the Parisians are at the very bottom of the Ligue Magnus. To avoid a major setback, the key was to “play a strong defensive game, explained Teemu Loizeau before the match. Victory will surely come through our defensive zone.”
In the first period, the Niçois executed the strategy by showing superior physicality. Despite an initial powerplay going against them, Pascal Margerit’s men were very close to conceding an early goal right from the start by Philéas Perrnoud. After nine minutes of play, Alexis Shank, well-focused, managed to deflect the puck on a point-blank shot from Jake Thomas Stella, but the pressure was strong on the Eagles’ net. Just a few minutes later, Canadian Matthew James Edward Philip slalomed through the defense of the home team to open the scoring for the Jokers (0-1 in the 13th minute).
The Niçois got back on track but struggled to pose any real threat in front of the opponent’s goal. Robin Johansson and Colin Morillon tried their luck without success, like their teammates. The Eagles dominated in puck possession but failed to get back into the game.
Nice Eagles’ Strong Reaction
The start of the second period was similar to the start of the match. The Maralpins dominated but did not capitalize. Until the 27th minute and a scramble in the Jokers’ defense, impeccable until then. Loïc Coulaud took advantage of it to authoritatively slip the puck into Cergy’s net and bring the Eagles back to equality (1-1). A goal that went with the flow of the game, especially as the Niçois became more enterprising. Cergy-Pontoise struggled to exit their own half and suffered pressure. Even though the visitors occasionally found space, they exposed themselves to the Eagles’ counters. On one of these actions, Teemu Loizeau was very close to giving the advantage to his team.
It was only a matter of time as a few minutes later, on a defended puck, Louis Cirgue, placed further back, scored with a low shot that slipped between the legs of the visitors’ goalkeeper (2-1). Nice logically took the lead and was even very close to increasing their lead on a new counter-attack initiated by Jordan Mugnier.
The Jokers Come Back into the Match
However, dominating is not winning and the Nice Eagles learned this the hard way. Despite a good start in the final period, Arthur Hostein managed to beat the Azur defense and place the puck into the Niçois’ net (2-2 in the 44th minute). Everything had to be redone and the Jokers seemed capable of playing tricks on the Niçois, who were far less focused on defense. Jarrett Scott Lee was even on the verge of giving the advantage to the Parisians on a recovery at midfield well stopped by Alexis Shank.
In the last ten minutes, Nice found themselves in a powerplay but once again failed to capitalize on this advantage, as illustrated by Mathieu Desgagnés’ shot without solutions.
The Nice Eagles applied pressure. They came very close to breaking down the Jokers’ defense several times in the last seven minutes. After a siege of nearly three minutes in the Jokers’ territory, the score did not change. Opportunities multiplied on both sides and Cergy came very close to scoring in the final second. It was not to be, heading to overtime.
It was the third time the Eagles were pushed into overtime this season with a record of one win and one loss. This time the puck fell in the Niçois’ favor! And who else but Teemu Loizeau to come and conclude the match and offer the victory to the Eagles (3-2 OT).
The next meeting for the Nice Eagles is this Friday on the ice in Marseille at 8:15 PM.
