Ontario Reign Clinch Fifth Straight Calder Cup Playoff Berth With 3-2 Win

Martin Chromiak scored twice, including the go-ahead goal 5:35 into the third period, as the Ontario Reign became the first team in the Pacific Division to clinch a 2026 Calder Cup Playoff berth with a 3-2 win over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday night at Tucson Arena.

The win was built on late-period execution that will translate well into May. Both Ontario power-play goals came in the final minute of their respective periods: Chromiak buried one with 4.4 seconds left in the first to make it 1-0, then Cole Guttman ended a seven-game goal drought with a power-play one-timer with 35 seconds remaining in the second to knot it at 2-2. Chromiak's game-winner in the third, set up by Glenn Gawdin and Nikita Alexandrov, was all Pheonix Copley needed. Copley stopped 23 of 25 shots for his third consecutive win.

Ontario now sits at 87 points with a 41-18-3-2 record and eight games remaining. Colorado holds second in the Pacific Division, three points back with nine to play. San Jose is seven points back but has 11 games left. The division winner receives first-round home-ice advantage, and Andrew Lord's club trimmed its magic number to 16 with Friday's result.

The clinch is the franchise's fifth consecutive postseason appearance and eighth in nine seasons since joining the AHL in 2015. Ten players from last year's playoff run remain on the roster, including Copley, Gawdin, and captain Joe Hicketts.

Tucson, meanwhile, sits eighth in the Pacific with 67 points, three points behind San Diego for the final playoff spot, meaning Friday's loss carried its own urgency for the Roadrunners' own postseason math.