In an interview with NESN before Friday night’s game, Bruins assistant coach Steve Spott called Morgan Geekie “one of those few guys in this league that can score from distance.”
If you’re looking for any evidence to back up that statement, Geekie provided it a few hours later, scoring two goals on two absolute lasers to provide all the offense in Boston’s 2-1 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings.
Are the Bruins in trouble without McAvoy?
This game was a 0-0 grind through 40 minutes, between two teams desperately trying to end their respective two-game losing streaks. It was Geekie who finally opened the scoring 8:01 into the third with his 15th goal of the season.
Geekie and Marat Khusnutdinov combined to force a Kings turnover on the breakout with great second and third efforts. Nikita Zadorov moved the puck right back up the ice to Alex Steeves, who then pulled up inside the blue line to look for a passing option.
What he saw, and heard, was Geekie gliding into the high slot calling for the puck. Steeves put it in his wheelhouse, and Geekie stepped into a rocket of a one-timer that went bar-down over Darcy Kuemper’s blocker.
The Bruins probably should have won this one in regulation, but a sloppy power play handed the Kings a shorthanded goal to tie the game with 6:57 remaining. No matter. That just opened the door for more Geekie magic.
With 2:33 left in overtime, David Pastrnak collected a Zadorov stretch pass at the offensive blue and then moved it across to Geekie. Normally, you don’t want to settle for shots from outside the faceoff dots in 3-on-3 overtime, especially when there’s no traffic in front. For most players, that’s a low-percentage move.
But Geekie isn’t most players right now. His shot isn’t normal. Because he has that skillset to beat goalies from distance that Spott highlighted, and because he’s as confident as can be at the moment, Geekie gets to fire away. He took a couple steps in, and then wired another shot over Kuemper's blocker.
It’s almost Thanksgiving, and Geekie is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead in goals with 16. Over his last 82 games dating back to Nov. 27 of last year, Geekie has 48 goals, second-most in that time behind only Leon Draisaitl (50). He is on pace for 57 goals this season.
When Pastrnak said earlier this season that Geekie “has everything to score 50 in this league,” it seemed like perhaps a slight exaggeration. It’s looking less and less far-fetched by the day.
These were two huge goals, because the banged-up Bruins really couldn’t afford to have another Western road trip turn into a prolonged losing streak. Geekie’s pinpoint shooting made sure that didn’t happen, as did Jeremy Swayman’s goaltending.
If it weren’t for the Kings’ shorthanded goal or Geekie’s late heroics, Swayman would have been the No. 1 star in this one. On a night when the Bruins needed a “stopper,” their $8.25 million man was just that. Swayman turned aside 31 of the 32 shots he faced and saved 2.71 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck. He is now third in the NHL in goals saved above expected on the season (+12.8), trailing only Chicago’s Spencer Knight and Washington’s Logan Thompson.
The Bruins wrap up the West Coast part of their trip Sunday night in San Jose before then flying back East to face the Islanders on Long Island on Wednesday.