For this third day of the Ligue Magnus, Nice was overpowered on its home ice. While the match was balanced in the first period, Marseille showed no mercy in the second.
Never two without three. Since the beginning of the season against Chamonix, Nice has won or lost by the same score of three to two. History repeated itself tonight against the Spartans of Marseille at the Jean-Bouin sports center.
The first period was balanced. Nice gave Marseille a chance to take the lead by incurring two consecutive two-minute penalties. But the men of Frantisek Stolc held firm and went to the locker room with a goalless draw.
The game opens up in the second period
In this second part of the match, Nice faltered. Fabien Colotti allowed the Spartans to take the lead (0-1). With numerical superiority, the Nice team, cheered on by the 1,000 spectators who came to support them, got back into the game. The equalizer came from Michal Kvasnica. However, just a minute later, Leevi Karjalainen committed a foul, giving Marseille the advantage. This opportunity was seized by Paul Joubert and then Paul Siraudin. The two Pauls extended the lead in less than ten seconds! It’s hard to see how Nice could recover, especially since the goalkeeper Conrad Molder had to leave. Despite a very good performance by Raphaël Garnier, Nice couldn’t come back (1-3) before the break.
It wasn’t until the 49th minute that hope was reignited with a goal from one of the Finnish recruits, Taavi Tiala. In the last three minutes, Nice took all the risks by pulling their goalie twice, but it wasn’t enough to equalize.
Nice thus lost (2-3) in this match. In the standings, the Eagles fell behind Marseille with four points. The next game is this Sunday against Rouen.
