The crowd inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Oct. 26 to watch the Monsters 2024 home opener was in midseason form from the first puck drop — 14,425 fans cheering every goal and save by the home team and booing the referees every time a call went against the Monsters. The hockey team still has things to figure out. The Monsters were beaten, 5-4, by the Rochester Americans three nights after the Americans crushed them, 6-1, in Rochester. The Oct. 26 game was tied 4-4 after regulation and overtime. It wasn’t settled until Rochester won a shootout, 2-1, that needed six rounds to decide. The effort was strong Saturday night, but the #Monsters have to defend better, Coach Trent Vogelhuber said after losing, 5-4, to Rochester in a shootout. pic.twitter.com/sOe5zyP9B4 — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 27, 2024 Monsters coach Trent Vogelhuber decided to let Rochester go first in the three-round shootout. Luca Del Bel Belluz, Cleveland’s second shooter, gave the Monsters a 1-0 lead. Mason Jobst made it 1-1 as Rochester’s third shooter. Konsta Helenius gave the Americans a 2-1 edge in the sixth round. Rochester goalie Michael Houser shut the door on the Monsters’ Cameron Butler to end the sixth round and the game. Butler slammed his stick against the sideboards in frustration. “A lot of good, a lot of room for improvement, as is common early in the year,” Vogelhuber said. “Some bad decisions with the puck on our sticks. We have to figure it out soon — the competitive level we have to stay at and working smart, as well.” Jet Greaves was in net and stopped 34 of 38 shots in regulation plus six more in overtime. He was between the pipes in the loss in Rochester and in the season-opening 7-3 loss to the Bears in Rochester. Not all of the 17 goals that got past Greaves in the three games were his fault, but some were. The defense in front of him keeps breaking down. “It’s a new group,’ Vogelhuber said. “We have a handful of PTOs (professional tryouts). A huge portion of our team is second-year players. They’ve come a long way, but they’re not finished products. “Sometimes early in the season you value offense and you forget about defense. That’s something we have to recalibrate and reset.” The Monsters and Americans on Oct. 26 were never separated by more than one goal. The Monsters grabbed their only lead, 3-2, at 11:23 of the middle period on a goal by Corson Ceulemans, but the Americans tied the score seven seconds later. Trey Fix-Wolansky, Roman Ahcan and Del Bel Belluz also scored for the Monsters in regulation.