3 hours Ago By Jeff Schudel
The scoreboard inside Rocket Arena malfunctioned several times Feb. 24 while the Monsters and Belleville Senators played a hockey game beneath it. The same thing happened to the Monsters’ offense.
The scoreboard problems eventually were corrected. The problems with the Monsters offense were not corrected. The Senators outshot the Monsters, 40-16, and skated off the ice with a 2-1 victory in overtime.
The game Feb. 23 ended with the same score, but that one needed a shootout to decide the winner. The Monsters were outshot, 38-32, in the Feb.
23 loss. Zack Sawchenko was fabulous in goal for the Monsters in the Feb. 24 game in front of 7,640 fans.
He stopped seven shots in the first period, 13 in the second and 18 in the third period, but Jeremy Davies beat Sawchenko high on the glove side 1:31 into overtime after the Monsters failed to launch a shot on net in overtime despite controlling the puck early in the extra session. The #Monsters need an offensive jumpstart after being outshot, 40-16, by Belleville Monday night in a 2-1 overtime loss. pic.
twitter.com/RKPGYt3JAo — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) February 25, 2025 Dylan Gambrell scored 4:03 into the first period for a 1-0 Monsters lead on their first shot on net of the game, but that was it. “We’re trying to find our groove offensively; it’s no secret,” Coach Trent Vogelhuber said.
“I thought they (Senators) did a really good job of blocking shots. They were in a ton of lanes. “Our offensive confidence isn’t where it’s been.
It happens over the course of the year. We have to keep fighting through it. Everybody defends well at this time of year.
You have to get to the hard areas for those second and third opportunities when we do get it down there.” The Monsters (26-15-5-5) are fourth in the AHL North. They are one point behind third-place Toronto and seven points ahead of fifth place Syracuse.
The top six teams in the Atlantic Division and the top five in the North qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Monsters, for now, have a firm grip on a playoff spot despite losing six of their last eight games. Four of those defeats were decided in overtime or by a shootout, which means the Monsters picked up a point in each of those games.
The Monsters played well defensively. Though 40 shots got through, the defense played strong in front of Sawchenko. “I think for the most part in the new year, we’ve made improvements in that area,” Vogelhuber said.
“When you defend properly, you get offense from it. We just have to take advantage of those opportunities.” Vogelhuber does not sugarcoat things.
If his players don’t put out effort he says so. That was not the case Feb. 24.
.
