Fresno Monsters’ Race to the 2024-2025 USPHL Pacific Division Playoffs

As of January 22, 2025, the Fresno Monsters’s determination to keep battling out on the ice during the regular season has put them one point behind the Ontario Jr. Reign as the Fresno Monsters are currently in third place of the USPHL Pacific Division standings with 46 points and a season record of 23-8-0-0. Out of their 23 wins, two wins consist of thrilling shutouts. 

The Fresno Monsters currently have a 24.32% power play success rate and an 82.98% penalty killing success rate. Their top scorers are #21 Simon Eriksson who currently has 60 points and #23 Filipp Papshev who has 53 points recorded in the regular season. Filipp Papshev leads the Fresno Monsters in hat-tricks recorded during the regular season as he has secured 3 hat-tricks and Simon Eriksson has 2 hat-tricks recorded so far in the regular season. 

In regards to goaltending, three out of their four goaltenders have had a chance in between the net this season. The stats of the three active goaltenders include: Brooks Barofsky securing 10 wins out of 11 games and a 0.919 SV%; Peter Burke securing 7 wins out of 10 games and a 0.911 SV%; and Markus Wasastjerna securing 6 wins in 11 games played and 0.866 SV%. 

Looking at what is left of the regular season, the Fresno Monsters have 15 games left in the regular season which consists of: 

• A three-game series against Henderson Force (4th place, 45 PTS, 22-10-0-1) on January 24-26, 2025.

  • Previous meetings this season: FRM and HNF have not faced one another 

  • Prediction: FRM may have the upper hand against HNF based on season record and their power play success rates. HNF currently has an 18.92% PP success rate compared to FMR’s 24.32% PP success rate. However, HNF does have a slight advantage on the PK as they have an 83.21% PK success rate which is slightly higher than FRM’s 82.98% PK success rate. 

• A two-game series against the Ventura Vikings (7th place, 23 PTS, 10-22-2-1) on January 30-February 1, 2025 

  • Previous meetings this season: FRM have won all 3 games against VNV (3-0)

  • Prediction: FRM will sweep VNV in this three-game series as they have swept VNV in the past after dominating the game (105 SOG vs. 56 SOG) and took control over goal scoring (25 G vs 5 G) in the three previous matchups. 

• A three-game series consisting of two games against the Ontario Jr. Reign (2nd place, 47 PTS, 23-9-1-0) on February 7-8, 2025 and against the San Diego Sabers (5th place, 36 PTS, 18-14-0-0) on February 9, 2025.

  • Previous meetings this season: 

    • FRM have won all 4 games against OJR (4-0)

    • FRM has won four out of five games against SDS (4-1)

  • Prediction: 

    • FRM will sweep OJR in this two-game series as long as they continue to maintain control over the game (149 SOG vs 123 SOG) and their goaltending remains solid throughout the series. 

    • FRM will most likely sweep SDS as they have controlled most of their previous games (187 SOG vs 141 SOG) and a strong penalty kill (100%) in all five games. FRM may also find success in this game with stellar goaltending. 

• A three-game series against the Long Beach Bombers (8th place, 18 PTS, 8-23-2-0) on February 14-16, 2025

  • Previous meetings this season: FRM have won all 3 games against LBB (3-0)

  • Prediction: FRM will sweep LBB in this three-game series as they have in previous games (105 SOG vs 50 SOG), remarkable goal scoring (19 G vs 2 G), and stellar penalty kill (100%) against LBB. 

• A three-game series against the Bakersfield Roughnecks (6th place, 29 PTS, 13-18-1-2) on February 20-22, 2025

  • Previous meetings this season: FRM have won all 3 games against BKR (3-0)

  • Prediction: FRM will sweep BKR in this three-game series by continuing to capitalize on their scoring chances (145 SOG vs 107 SOG) and goal scored (18 G vs. 5 G) during the three previous games against BKR. 

The Fresno Monsters (46 PTS) do have some tough competition who are all fighting for the remaining playoff spot, however, their matchups for the remainder of the season look to be leaning in their favor. As acknowledged in Summary of the Race to the Playoffs, it is hard to pinpoint who will clinch places 2-4 in the Pacific Division standing as the teams in these spots are all one point away from one another and maintaining their winning streaks. For reference, the Ontario Jr. Reign has 47 PTS and four-game winning streak, the Fresno Monsters have 46 PTS and seven-game winning streak, and Henderson Force has 45 PTS and five-game winning streak.

The Fresno Monsters do have a chance of overtaking the Ontario Jr. Reign’s 2nd place in the standings as well as officially clinching a spot in the playoffs. This is possible if they can keep up their impressive winning streak and continue to dominate over the teams they have maintained control over since the beginning of the season.