23 hours Ago By Kyle Garcia, Hockey Royalty
Two first-period goals against and Devin Cooley were the difference in the Ontario Reign’s 3-1 defeat this afternoon. Final. Same-ish time tomorrow.
#ReignTrain | #ONTvsCGY pic.twitter.com/F5pyrSpxmS — X – Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 5, 2025 Goal Breakdown First period: CGY: Ty Tulio (3), ASST: Rory Kerins (26), Sam Morton (23) CGY: Carter Wilkie (1), ASST: Jonathan Aspirot (22), Ilya Solovyov (21) Second period: ONT: PP Glenn Gawdin (25), ASST: Caleb Jones (18), Charles Hudon (41) Third period: CGY: Yan Kuznetsov (6), ASST: Sam Morton (24) Stats Goals: ONT: 1 CGY: 3 Shots: ONT: 24 CGY: 23 Power plays: ONT: 1/5 CGY:0/3 Here are the four takeaways from today’s 3-1 defeat: Slow start comes back to bite the Reign The Reign didn’t have the best start in this contest.
They found their stride and got better as the game went on, but sometimes a slow start can sink you and see you wind up on the losing end. That is what happened to the Reign. The Wranglers scored twice on their first four shots to go up 2-0 less than six minutes into the game.
The first goal was scored by Ty Tulio alone in front of the doorstep of Pheonix Copley after a failed clearing attempt by Joe Cecconi , and the Reign were never able to regain possession afterward. GOAL FOR THE BIRTHDAY BOY pic.twitter.
com/i1hNnEcMEB — Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 5, 2025 Carter Wilkie scored the second goal for his first professional goal. Calgary established a forecheck, won a physical board battle, and Wilkie flung a shot from the halfway that squeaked through Copley. What a way to make his return home!! Wilkie pockets his first AHL goal pic.
twitter.com/4LSefu3LCj — Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 5, 2025 Sequences like that have cost the Reign, despite being on the winning end of the past three games. With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, it’s important to clean up those bad habits because with the first round being a best-of-three series, the room for error is marginal.
Gawdin stays red hot Glenn Gawdin has been as advertised. The 28-year-old forward has had an outstanding season, setting a new career high in the AHL in goals (25) and points (58). Lately, the first-line centerman has been on a heater, scoring 10 goals in his last 13 games, which includes 15 points in that stretch.
His power-play tally was the only goal in the game for the Reign. It was a deflection in front of the net off a shot from the blue line by Caleb Jones. Siren sounds for Glenn Gawdin!! #ReignTrain | #ONTvsCGY pic.
twitter.com/Zu4nCCuYUd — X – Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 5, 2025 Gawdin has been key in all situations for Marco Sturm and has stepped up his game this past month, including the last five games in with Jeff Malott being called up to the Kings. Missed opportunities Being down 2-0 in the Saddledome was a familiar scene for the Reign.
For a little memory refresher, the last two games in Calgary (back in February) saw the Reign trail 2-0 in both games, despite not leading for a second. Today was a different story. The Reign had their chances, including a minute of a 5-on-3 power play where they didn’t get a clean look, but Devin Cooley was a brick wall in net for Calgary.
Cooley made 23 saves on 24 shots in the victory. The Reign had 10 shots on goal in the third period, and Cooley stopped all 10, denying a chance at history repeating itself from the previous two games in February. The loss also denied the Reign a chance at gaining ground on the Colorado Eagles for first place in the division.
If the Abbotsford Canucks get at least a point in their game tonight, the Reign will fall to third place in the division. Devin Cooley faced 23 shots in this afternoon’s game. He said, ” I felt that I kept my emotions on solid line.
” pic.twitter.com/Rcgmyydju4 — Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 5, 2025 Hicketts doesn’t finish the game This one hurt – literally.
Joe Hicketts blocked a shot in the first period and immediately went straight down the tunnel to the locker room. On the replay, it looked like Hicketts was shaking his left hand after blocking the attempt. While Hicketts did return moments later on the penalty kill, he didn’t finish the game.
Ontario was running with five defensemen to try to claw their way back. Losing Hicketts for any time at this point in the season would be a devastating blow for the Reign. He is not only their captain, but a mainstay, leader, and do-it-by-example kind of player on the backend.
NOTES: *Calgary has scored first in all seven games of the season series. * Kaleb Lawrence recorded his second fight of the season and tried to give the Reign a spark down 2-0 in the opening frame. The fourth line of him, Shawn Element , and Jacob Doty had a solid game and provided much-needed physicality against a strong Calgary team.
*Carter Wilkie’s goal stood as the game-winner. UP NEXT: These two teams are back at it in less than 24 hours. Puck drop is at noon PST and can be seen on FloHockey.
You can also listen to the game on the ESPN LA app or ontarioreign.com/radio. The Reign will look for the weekend split.
This article first appeared on Hockey Royalty and was syndicated with permission..
