Morgan Geekie has been getting lost, and that’s helped him find his game.
The Bruins winger scored his eighth goal of the season in the club’s 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets Saturday night at TD Garden. He added an assist on David Pastrnak’s goal in the latest of a string of strong performances from Geekie, who has 16 points on the season.
Geekie acknowledged he got off to a slow start this season, but he’s found his groove and is having a December to remember. His Saturday snipe was his sixth of the month, one behind Brad Marchand, who has a team-high seven for the month.
Playing on the left side with Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, Geekie had a simple explanation for his surge.
“Just kind of getting back to my game,” he said. “I think I had chances coming in and we were trying to find ourselves as a team too, but it’s nice we strung a couple wins together and it was good to kind of help them produce and especially with the role playing with [Pastrnak] and [Zacha] and just trying to pitch in where I can and get those guys the puck, too. So yeah, just try to stick to my game and be responsible on both ends.”
The 6-foot-3-inch Geekie has one of the hardest and most accurate shots from outside the circles (see recent goals vs. the Sabres and Blue Jackets), but he also is adept at finding the soft spots in the high-traffic areas and converting from there (see his tally against the Flames).
“Yeah, just trying to get lost I think is the big one. [Pastrnak] and [Zacha] are great players, and they draw a lot of attention, so I mean that whole shift I was just trying to get lost,” Geekie said of his goal in Boston’s 4-3 overtime win in Calgary.
“They didn’t really see me come on the ice, so I was trying to stay under the radar and Pasta made a great pass to [Mason Lohrei], and [Andrew Peeke] slid down. It’s kind of everything that we talk about in here, and I just happened to be in the right spot. So, anytime you can get inside that house inside the dots, it helps a lot. And then pucks got to find you too, so just being in the right spots and got to get a little lucky too, so it’s all good.”
The Bruins are 7-0 when Geekie lights the lamp. He has 12 points in the past 15 games and goals in four of the past seven games. It’s a small sample size, but that equates to a 40-goal pace. Geekie had career highs in goals (17) and points (39) last season, and with a strong second half, those numbers are well within reach.
Geekie said one of the keys to the Bruins’ recent success — they’re 12-5-1 since Joe Sacco took over behind the bench and 20-14-4 overall — has been a “less thinking, more doing” attitude on the ice.
“I think we’re getting there,” Geekie said. “I think the details for us are coming for sure. And I think you saw that as the game went on in Calgary and then in Vancouver, how well we can play when we just start playing hockey and stick to our systems and stuff.
“But when we get away from that, that’s when we start to struggle a little bit. So, our coaches are great about harping on us and staying honest about that, but we also take a lot of pride in that in the room. [Marchand] and the leadership group are good about staying on guys and staying accountable to themselves, too. So, just staying true to our game and playing to our strengths. And just sticking to that.”
Breaking away
Pastrnak’s breakaway goal Saturday night (“I had about 5-10 different thoughts in two seconds,” he quipped) was the 361st of his career.
Since the All-Star right winger’s debut in the 2014-15 season, only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (446), Toronto’s Auston Matthews (379), and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (371) have tickled the twine more in that span.
Etc.
The Bruins assigned Fabian Lysell to Providence Sunday. The winger made his NHL debut in Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets. It’s possible the 21-year-old Lysell could get another look sooner than later. ... Boston’s win over Columbus stretched its home winning streak to six games. It’s the Bruins’ longest home run since 2022 when they won 14 straight on Garden ice from Oct. 15-Dec. 3. ... Jeremy Swayman’s 14th career shutout moved him past Andy Moog (13) for 12th place on the Bruins all-time list. Who’s No. 1? Tiny Thompson cooked up 74 bagels between 1928 and 1939. ... The Bruins won’t be back on Garden ice until Jan. 5 against the Islanders. They’ll play a New Year’s Eve matinee in Washington followed by a game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden Thursday, and a Saturday night affair in Toronto.
