Sloppy Monsters fall to Rochester

“Our disappointment is in the way we started. We got in a hole and couldn’t get ourselves out.”

If a minor league hockey team is going to play a clunker, it is always best to play it in the middle of the week when most of their loyal fans aren’t watching.

The Monsters were slow and sloppy Feb. 5 in a, 4-2, loss to the Rochester Americans before an announced crowd of 4,876 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Monsters managed only five shots on goal – weak ones at that – in the first period while the Americans were building a 2-0 lead.

The Monsters did get a spark early in the second period when Calvin Thurkauf launched a shot from the left circle over the left shoulder of Rochester goalie Andrew

Hammond, but it was like lighting a match in a thunderstorm; the spark was doused quickly.

“It was surprising to see us play that way as a group, because that’s not who we’ve been for a greater part of the season,” Monsters coach Mike Eaves said. “It’s disappointing. I know the boys are disappointed. But it does happen, and it’s about us responding.

“We need to get back on the ice and prepare for Binghamton (games Feb. 7 and 8 at the FieldHouse). Our disappointment is in the way we started. We got in a hole and couldn’t get ourselves out.”

Monsters goalie Matiss Kivlenieks went behind net midway through the first period to get the puck with the score 0-0, but his stick broke in the process. The Americans scored before he could get back to the front of the cage.

The Monsters defense was slow to react when Americans’ Pascal Aquin lifted the puck over Kivlenieks’ right pad two minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

The Monsters, seventh in the AHL North, slipped to 21-22-2-2. Rochester, second in the North, improved to 26-13-2-4.

Aquin scored his second goal of the game to give Rochester a 3-1 lead in the second period. Any chance the Monsters had of a comeback was squelched when Eric Cornel snapped the puck past Kivlenieks’ blocker for a 4-1 lead.

Trey Fix-Wolansky scored on a slapshot for the Monsters with 7:42 left, but that was it for the home team.

“It was a tough night at the office,” Eaves said. “We all have tough days. It seemed like we were biking into the wind tonight. We need to have a reset button and get ready for our next opponent.”

Eaves isn’t certain whether he will have Kivlenieks for the game with Binghamton Feb. 7.