French Ligue Magnus play-off first round full of surprises

Out of the four first round match-ups, only one had an expected result - at least based on regular season rankings.

Amiens (5^th) needed only two games to advance against Dijon (12^th) but it wasn't that easy : Amiens had to cancel a 2 goals deficit in the first game  to earn a 4-3 OT win in Dijon. The second game was also close and Amiens finally clinched the quarter final berth with a 3-2 regulation win thanks to two goals from Team France national team player Kevin Hecquefeuille.

The biggest upset in this first round was obviously Villard-de-Lans (10^th) qualification over 2007 and 2009 French champion Grenoble (7^th). The two cities are distant from only 30 km so home ice advantage was not really a decisive factor in the series. Villard won the first game after a thrilling 4-3 OT win and three goals scored by Canadian forward Jean-Christophe Gauthier and repeated 3 days later with a 4-2 win in Grenoble while both teams were scoreless after two periods. Grenoble was playing without 3 key players facing serious injuries including team captain and Team France defenseman Baptiste Amar, starter goalie Eddy Ferhi and Slovenia national team forward Mitja Sivic. Grenoble was part of the semi-finals for the last ten seasons.

The two other series were concluded in 3 games : in another match-up between two close teams (distant from only 70 kms), Morzine-Avoriaz (9^th) finally eliminated Chamonix (8^th) despite losing the first game on home ice (1-4) and facing elimination in the shootout of the second game (game tied at 1-1 after OT) but Denislam Yusupov scored the shootout winner and Morzine-Avoriaz repeated one day later with a 4-3 away win to advance to the quarter finals.

In the final first round match-up, Epinal (6^th) and Strasbourg (11^th) also had a fierce battle to determine the winner. Both teams won their home game : Strasbourg with a 4-1 win with three goals scored by David Cayer and Epinal with a 3-2 win with a three goals third period as Strasbourg had a two goal lead after the first two periods. Scenario was similar in the final game of the series as Strasbourg was leading 2-0 after two periods but this time Epinal was held scoreless and Strasbourg could advance to the quarter finals with a 2-0 shutout for goalie Vladimir Hiadlovsky.

In the best-of-five quarter finals, Morzine-Avoriaz will have the privilege to face Rouen (1^st), Villard-de-Lans will try to create another upset against Angers (2^nd), Strasbourg will try to win a first ever semi-final spot against Gap (3^rd) and Amiens will challenge Briançon (4^th) in what should be a very close battle.

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