Cleveland Monsters Home Opener Featured Everything But a Win

Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters/Jonathan DeMuth

After a lengthy five-game road trip to start the season, the Cleveland Monsters returned to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, October 26. Even though the team enjoyed the time they had to bond on the road, they were excited to play in front of their fans. “They are very loyal. They get loud and rowdy and excited,” said Monsters Assistant Captain Owen Sillinger of the Cleveland fans. “They want to see the best possible product, as they should.”

The fans brought an abundance of noise and energy to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.  In fact, they almost blew the roof off the building when Jet Greaves was announced as the starting goaltender for tonight’s game. 

However, when it mattered the most, the fans were silent for 13 seconds to honor the lives of Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau who were killed by a drunk and impatient driver while bicycling home from their sister’s rehearsal dinner on August 29, 2024. 

Once the 13 seconds and National Anthem were finished, the crowd went back to their wild ways and their spirits never dampened. It helps that opening night was full of everything but a win for the Monsters who lost to the Americans 5-4. 

 Buzzing First Line

Cleveland’s first line of James Malatesta, Luca Del Bel Belluz, and Trey Fix-Wolansky spent the game being a nuisance to Rochester. Fix-Wolansky and Del Bel Belluz each found the back of the net in regulation. At the same time, Malatesta bullied the opposition by pushing them around, stealing pucks, and setting up plays for his linemates to finish. Since losing forward Rocco Grimaldi during opening weekend in Hershey, the first line added Malatesta to the mix and have continued to rise to every challenge they've faced.

“Tonight it was just all three guys supporting each other. I felt like last game we were a little too spread out. So, we tried to do our job and be close there for support,” said Fix-Wolansky. “It makes it a lot easier to move the puck around and get scoring opportunities that way.”

Wobbly Skate Blade

During the first three minutes of the second period, defender Madison Bowey lost or had a loose skate blade causing him to be unable to get off the ice for one minute and eight seconds. Leaving the ice was already an uphill battle due to losing his blade in the faceoff circle to the left of Greaves. At the time, that was one of the furthest points away from Cleveland’s bench. Bowey was able to stand up a few times and hold balance long enough to break up a few of Rochester’s plays. Once play left the defensive zone, Bowey fell to his knees on the way to the bench and Greaves came zooming out of the net to give him a few pushes towards the bench. Unfortunately, as Bowey was halfway to the neutral zone, the play returned to the defensive zone. So, he did what a natural-born defender does and scrambled toward the crease to throw his body in front of pucks and close up potential shooting lanes. 

I’m sure that was the longest 1:08 of Bowey’s life.

Monsters Shorty Highlights Ahcan’s Skills

Shortly after Bowey’s wobbly skate incident, Denton Mateychuk took a tripping penalty putting Cleveland on the penalty kill. As time was winding down on the penalty, forward Roman Ahcan found himself with the puck surrounded by Americans. Instead of panicking, Ahcan passed to himself and found the back of the net to tie the game at two. “I was just trying to get the puck into the zone. Get it over to Pearson,” said Ahcan of his shorthanded goal. “I threw a saucer to myself and ended up getting it to the net. Through the five-hole.”

Leading the team in goals (5) and finding ways to create plays out of thin air, Ahcan has shown why a standard player contract instead of a professional tryout is in his future. “He’s been great. He’s leading our team in goals. I think it’s a good situation for him,” said Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber on Ahcan. “I’m happy to have him back, first of all. He’s comfortable here. He knows what I expect of him. I’ve worked with him for a year and a half up to this point. He knows what to do. He knows his roles.”

Two Penalty Shots

The second period continued with not one, but two penalty shots. One for Rochester’s Graham Slaggert and one for Cleveland’s Sillinger. Both missed their shots and failed to change the momentum for their teams. Regardless of how those shots turned out, it was exciting to see two penalty shots in one game. “Once you call the first one, you kind of had to call the second one. So, that might be a first,” said Vogelhuber. 

Six Round Shootout 

Due to an outstanding job by goaltenders Michael Houser (Rochester) and Greaves (Cleveland) in the third period and overtime, the Monsters’ home opener headed to a six-round shootout. Del Bel Belluz  was the lone Monster to score a goal in the shootout. Mason Jobst and Konsta Helenius were able to find the back of the net for the Americans giving them the 5-4 win. 

As noted earlier, Cleveland fans often bring the noise and a bit of ruckus to almost every game. So, how does a player stay focused during a high-stress moment such as being sent out for the shootout? According to Fix-Wolansky, players basically have to pretend like the crowd isn’t even there. “Usually just try to block out the crowd. They get pretty loud, whether it’s at home or on the road,” said Fix-Wolansky. “I try to get into my own head and just numb out the noise and stick to what I know.”

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You can listen to the full post game interview below.