It was not necessary to be late, Friday evening, not to miss anything of the clash of the Magnus League, between the first two of the elite, Grenoble et Rouen. A meeting at the top which turned to the advantage of the Normans. The Dragons only needed 26 seconds to open the scoring, thanks to Kelsey Tessier. Some even believed that the Rouennais would quickly bend the game, after two more goals scored in the first period, by Valentin Claireaux (in double numerical superiority in the 10th) and Alexandre Mallet (3-0 in the 17th). But the Wolf Burners revived the suspense by scoring twice in barely a minute, from the start of the second period, by Damien Fleury and Kyle Hardy (3-2). Alas, Rouen redid the break at five against four thanks to Florian Chakiachvili (4-2, 28th). The Dragons won, in the end, 5-3 with three assists for the championship’s top scorer, François Beauchemin.
High-stakes games, we played others this Friday, while there are only, depending on the teams and the calendar, a good dozen games to play before the end of the regular season. Cergy Pontoisethus, took two points not necessarily expected by winning, in overtime, at Angers. Dukes and Jokers were tied 4-4 at the end of regulation, with eight goals scored in the first half of the game. It was finally Aaron Miller, author of a three-point evening a few days after his return from injury, who offered the victory to the Parisians (4-5).
In the standings, Angers remains third, but is now 13 points behind Rouen, and 19 behind Grenoble. But the Dukes still have a good margin on the fourth, since Gap bowed to Mulhouse. The Scorpions beat the Raptors 5-3 with a brace from Teemu Loizeau. Here are the Alsatians who return to sixth position, just ahead of Cergy-Pontoise, and only three lengths from Bordeaux. The Girondins, precisely, won the fourth South West derby of the year against Anglet 4-1 (the two neighbors are tied for two successes each in this Aquitaine mini-championship). The Boxers’ four goals were scored in the second period, by Aïna Rambelo, Fabien Colotti, Maxime Legault and Loïk Poudrier.
The bad operation of the day in the race for the play-offs, it is for Amiens. The Gothics lost at Chamonix after an endless shooting session: 5-4 after 13 shots on goal. Consequence: the Haut-Savoyards alone take 8th place, with a point ahead of the Picards. Picards who must also be wary of the return of Nice. Now trained by a Stan Sutor – Daniel Babka duo, the Azureans have beaten Briancon 2-5, with four points (two goals and two assists) from Lucas Bonnardel. The Eagles can still dream of the play-offs: they are only two points behind Chamonix.
Results.- Friday 20 January: Briançon – Nice 2-5, Mulhouse – Gap 5-3, Chamonix – Amiens 5-4 tabs, Bordeaux – Anglet 4-1, Rouen – Grenoble 5-3, Angers – Cergy-Pontoise 4-5 ap.
Ranking : 1. Grenoble (82 pts, 32 M), 2. Rouen (76 pts, 32 M), 3. Angers (63 pts, 31 M), 4. Gap (53 pts, 33 M), 5. Bordeaux (50 pts, 34 M), 6. Mulhouse (47 pts, 32 M), 7. Cergy-Pontoise (46 pts, 33 M), 8. Chamonix (41 pts, 33 M), 9. Amiens (40 pts, 33 M ), 10. Nice (39 points, 32 M), 11. Anglet (34 points, 33 M), 12. Briançon (10 points, 32 M).
Next matches.- Sunday 22 January: Rouen – Bordeaux, Angers – Nice, Anglet – Briançon. Tuesday, January 24: Nice – Amiens, Bordeaux – Chamonix, Grenoble – Briançon, Anglet – Angers, Gap – Rouen, Cergy-Pontoise – Mulhouse.
The Magnus League 2022/2023 page.
