Morgan Geekie scored two goals in the Bruins’ 4-3 victory over Montreal Saturday, including the game-winner with 5:53 left in regulation. That second goal was also the 100th goal of his career. All of that was special, but there was something else that made the night even more special.
It was the first game for his son, Max, who was born just two weeks ago.
“It was Max’s first game today, so it was nice to share that with him. It’ll always be something we remember,” Geekie said after the game.
On the ice, Geekie is heating up again. After a 12-game goalless drought, he now has three goals and five points in the last three games. He could have done even more damage Saturday, as he had two more good chances on Boston’s first power play of the night, but couldn’t get off a clean shot on either.
If that had happened while Geekie was still slumping, perhaps it would have been enough to get him off his game for the rest of the night. Not Saturday, though. Geekie looked determined to just keep pushing for a goal that felt inevitable.
His first goal of the night tied the game at 2-2 on a power play midway through the second, and it was an easy finish thanks to a great assist from David Pastrnak. Pastrnak took a stretch pass from Charlie McAvoy that caught the Canadiens penalty kill in a bad change, made a nifty flip pass to himself while cutting to the middle, and then set up Geekie with a wide open net.
Geekie’s second goal required a little more firepower – and an extra set of eyes. Just eight seconds after Fraser Minten tied the game at 3-3, Tanner Jeannot drew a penalty that gave the Bruins’ red-hot power play a chance to win the game. It took Geekie a mere four seconds to do exactly that, as he took a pass from McAvoy and ripped a one-timer past Samuel Montembeault.
No one saw the puck go in, though, until Geekie pointed to it in the back of the net and started celebrating. The refs had to go to video to make sure the shot actually went in, and it turns out it did.
“It took me a minute,” Geekie said. “I just saw Lindy [Elias Lindholm] looking up in the air, so I wasn’t sure either. Then I saw a little black thing in the net.”
The Bruins’ power play finished 3-for-4 Saturday, and is now 13-for-34 (38.2%) in 12 games since Dec. 31, best in the NHL over that time. They’re up to third on the season at 27.6%. They’ve scored in five straight games, including five times in the last two games.
It felt almost inevitable that the Bruins were going to score on that late man advantage Saturday. The situation, right after tying the game, and the raucous TD Garden crowd demanded it.
“The power play, they were great,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “They’ve been great all year long. … We talked about it: When we’re gonna have a power play, we’re gonna score. And that’s what happened.”
With his two goals Saturday, Geekie is back up to fifth in the NHL in goals with 28. He is still on pace for 45 goals on the season. And most importantly for the Bruins, he seems to be officially out of his first prolonged slump since early last season.
The Bruins, who have now won 10 of their last 12, next play Monday night in New York against the Rangers. Because of the major winter storm hitting the Northeast Sunday and Monday, the Bruins changed their travel plans and flew down right after Saturday’s game to get ahead of the weather.