The Eagles are unstoppable. The Niçois secured their sixth consecutive victory this evening on the ice of Cergy-Pontoise.
This 24th day of the Magnus League will go down in history for the Côte d’Azur. It has been a long time since we last saw the Eagles of Nice celebrate like this. The reason being, the Niçois have been undefeated since November 19. This makes Nice the second most in-form team behind the untouchable Grenoble Wolf Burners. A source of pride that Frantisek Stolc’s men fought for and secured tonight.
Everything started well for the Eagles. After a beautiful move initiated by captain Marc-André Levesque, the unstoppable Adam Raska placed a nice shot into Sebastien Ylönen’s top corner. The Czech player scored his ninth goal of the season there. A ray of light in a first period where both teams neutralized each other afterwards.
As they returned from the locker room, the Cergy-Pontoise players came back with different intentions. The game became more intense and pressure mounted on Conrard Molder’s net. The Estonian goalkeeper stood firm against the Jokers’ attackers. This obviously worked to irritate… Tensions flared between the two teams, well aware of the stakes of this match. Since both teams are neck and neck in the Magnus League standings, this was reflected on the scoreboard. Daniels Gorsanovs, with a powerful shot, managed to beat the Niçois goalkeeper, who had made 18 saves up to that point. Jokers and Eagles returned to the locker room one last time with a tied score (1-1).
A hard-fought victory
Despite the equalizer, the Niçois did not give up. They had in mind the stinging defeat they suffered last month at home against this same opponent (a 3-6 defeat on the 18th day). In the last 20 minutes, both teams raised their level of play. Nobody wanted to go into overtime. Both teams committed many engagement fouls. In the rink favored by the Jokers’ cause, it was the Eagles who eventually found a breakthrough in the last two minutes. A goal by Daniel Berzins that sealed the score of the match (2-1). Cergy-Pontoise tried everything by playing with six but without success.
Thus, Nice claimed victory for the sixth consecutive time and took a six-point lead in the Magnus League standings over the Jokers. A great success even though Nice has played four more matches than Cergy-Pontoise at this point in the season. Nonetheless, this victory is beneficial both in terms of points and morale. Now, they need to focus on hosting Briançon on Tuesday at 8 PM. And perhaps even dream of continuing this streak, which could become historic for Niçois hockey.
