The Nice Eagles hosted the Epinal Gamyo on Friday evening for the 18th day of the Magnus League.
In a tightly contested first period, the Niçois showed character. With the physical battle imposed by their opponents, the Eagles committed too many penalties to effectively defend. The tone was set. Epinal opened the scoring seven minutes into the game. But Nice responded with a goal from Bajarus (10:16) before taking the lead thanks to Lacheny (12:46), during a double power play. Despite Sedlacek’s crucial saves, Epinal fought back and equalized just before the break (18:36).
The Eagles started the second period aggressively. They maintained puck possession and attempted long shots by Michael Quinn, but the Niçois remained silent in front of the goal locked down by Epinal. By overcommitting, Nice was caught off guard. Hamrak committed too many fouls and saw his team concede the third goal (38:8) while in the penalty box.
The Eagles returned from the locker room defeated and were quickly hit by Gutierrez (45:39). The game intensified between the two teams, and Nice narrowed the gap with a goal from their captain Macon (54:48). Epinal pushed to seal the match and twice missed the open net, but it had no consequences for the visitors…
The Niçois will have to recover from this defeat before an upcoming challenging away game in Bordeaux on November 15th.
