Reign Clinch Playoff Spot with Win over San Jose
April 3, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
Andre Lee and Martin Chromiak scored in the opening minute of the game and Aatu Jamsen put the Ontario Reign (39-22-3-1) in front for good in the second in a 3-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda (32-24-5-4) on Wednesday night at Tech CU Arena.
With the win, the Reign clinched a playoff spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with seven games remaining in the 2024-25 season. They are currently in second place in the Pacific Division standings with 82 points.
Pheonix Copley had a busy night as Ontario was outshot 38-19 by San Jose in the contest. The netminder led his team to a win with 36 saves, stopping the final 26 attempts that came his way to allow two or less goals for the third consecutive appearance.
Lee picked up where he left off after scoring the game-winning goal on Sunday with 11 seconds remaining to defeat Colorado and got the Reign's offense started with his fifth strike of the year just 20 seconds into the first. Samuel Fagemo was credited with an assist on the play, earning his 200th career AHL point.
Chromiak added on just 12 seconds later, netting his 14th of the year off a feed by Glenn Gawdin after Charles Hudon helped work the puck free in the offensive zone.
But the Barracuda responded later in the frame with two goals of their own to tie the score at the end of the opening period. Patrick Giles found the back of the net while SJ was shorthanded at 5:03 to make it 2-1, then Luca Cagnoni took advantage of a fortunate bounce on a clearing attempt that hit the referee behind the net and slipped the puck past Copley to tie the game at 15:34.
The Reign went back in front for good at 8:21 of the second when Jamsen buried a rebound that was loose at the side of the Cuda net for his seventh strike of his rookie campaign. It was also Jamsen's fourth goal against San Jose this season and came with assists by Francesco Pinelli and Reilly Walsh.
Ontario held on in the third despite the Barracuda holding an 8-4 shot advantage. The Reign were able to kill off an early penalty to Fagemo and another to Hudon halfway through the final frame.
San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play while holding Ontario to a 0-for-2 night on the man-advantage. Cuda goaltender Gabriel Carriere stopped 16 of the Reign's shots in a losing effort between the pipes.
Postgame reactions from captain Joe Hicketts and head coach Marco Sturm are below -
Joe Hicketts
On clinching a playoff spot
It's always nice. As the season progresses, I don't know if you start standings watching, but you're definitely aware of what you need. Today, we knew a win would seal our fate into the playoffs. So obviously, a big win, maybe not the way we wanted but again, you got to find ways to win those games. There was a good atmosphere here in San Jose tonight and we were able to come out on top.
On the physicality tonight
I think it's two teams that have their eyes set on playoffs. It felt like a playoff type mentality out there. There wasn't a lot of space. It was a tight checking game. We were fortunate to kind of get a jump on them in the first minute and get two early ones. But after that they came and they pushed and they pushed and they pushed. They got a couple special teams goals that we're gonna have to clean up. So we're gonna have to figure that out going into next weekend, not looking ahead of Calgary but a very playoff mentality tonight.
On the chippy third period mentality
It's stick up for your teammates and don't put us down short handed. It's tough against that team. They have a lot of guys who are in our face all the time. I thought we did a really good job of sticking up for each other when time needed. If we can find a way to be on the aggressive side of it, doing that in front of their net, I think it's going to help us going forward.
Marco Sturm
His overall thoughts on the game
We were lucky today. We had a really good first minute and scored at the right time there in the second period. We kind of held on to that. Overall, it was not a good game from us. Hopefully it's just one game but we'll definitely take the win and the points.
On the start of this road trip
For me as a coach, I try to find the right way to go into the postseason. There's only seven games left, and the way we played today, I just didn't like it. You can't just turn it on. Last year, we had a really good run at the end, it kind of carries over, and that's what I believe in. We better figure things out and try to play our game to go into the postseason.
On his team's details
They played better than us today. We made a lot of mistakes today, ones we usually don't. We had a few days in between. I thought the guys practiced really well the other day and we rested. Just mental, a lot of mental mistakes, and the details were not there. Usually I think we play better on the road and in Calgary too. So hopefully we can grab on our identity and play the way we need to play.
On other players who had their games going
Copley first of all, he kept us in the whole game. He made some really good saves. The poor guy, you know, he was definitely our number one star. But for me, right away, it was Gawdin. He was really good today. Him and Andre Lee, I put them out there all the time. So those two guys. Maybe some other guys too but it's just not enough. Maybe today, but you can't win in the long run.
Ontario continues its road trip up north this weekend in Calgary when they battle the Wranglers on Saturday and Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Saturday's series-opener is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. PT.
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