Bruins
“If I see him just once, it will be a bullet.”
Morgan Geekie now has five goals in his last eight games. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Nikita Zadorov could have said it best on Saturday night.
“The hockey gods were on the Geeks’ side today,” said the Bruins defenseman.
Just over 10 minutes after Morgan Geekie’s game-winning tally was taken off the board due to an offside call, the Bruins winger was not denied.
After David Pastrnak took away Geekie’s initial goal by crossing the blue line too early, he saw an opportunity to rectify his mistake.
In the final seconds of a power play, Pastrnak took a pass from Mason Lohrei and looked to pass from the half-wall. Rather than feed the puck to Charlie Coyle in the low slot, Pastrnak threw a pass over a hidden Geekie further on the frozen sheet.
Geekie’s attempt may have been a little off A-level ice, but Pastrnak wasn’t going to think too hard.
“Yeah, my eyes were all on the Geeks,” Pastrnak said.
Geekie’s one-timer was on target, going past Buffalo goaltender James Reimer with 1:45 left to put Boston past the Sabers at TD Garden.
Saturday’s eventual 3-1 win over a Buffalo team now in the midst of a 13-game losing streak won’t make for many end-of-year highlights.
But in a disjointed game where Boston’s slow skating legs allowed a woeful Sabers team to hang around, Geekie’s play stood out as a positive element worth highlighting.
The hockey gods may have been on Geekie’s side in the third period, but lighting the lamp hasn’t exactly been an exception for the 26-year-old forward lately.
After Saturday’s win, Geekie has now scored five goals (and seven points) in his last eight games, giving a top line of Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha a much-needed boost.
“I think he’s obviously playing on a good line with two really good offensive players, but he’s finding his place right now,” Joe Sacco said of Geekie’s contributions. “He finds ice because he can shoot, and he gets to the front of the net, which I think is very important for that line.
“I know he scored from the outside here tonight at the end of the power play, but more often in the offensive zone – that line needs someone to get to the front of the net. And he did a much better job of that, opening up space for the other two guys on the outside.
Geekie, like several other key cogs in Boston’s forward corps, has had a slump to forget when it comes to his base production.
After setting career highs last season in goals (17) and points (39) in his first campaign with Boston, Geekie needed to rely on the heavier reps he got with the Bruins.
But this promise of production quickly faded. Geekie entered December with just two goals in his first 22 games – spending several games healthy as he tried to find his footing.
Pushing him to the top line didn’t guarantee an uptick in scoring, given Zacha’s slow start (three goals in 23 games) and Pastrnak’s drop in goals (12 goals in 35 games).
But Geekie started to find his rhythm doing the dirty work on this group, opening up more soft ice and shooting lanes while creating turnovers on the forecheck (a team-high four hits against Buffalo).
“I think just our trio, we have a little more chemistry,” Geekie said. “I think we played a little more. Don’t pass up shots, try to get pucks to the net. So I try to get on the net as much as possible with these two.
“I know they like to play and put the puck inside, and someone has to do a little bit of the dirty work and get in the crease. So keep building on that.
Geekie may be at his best making life easier for his other two teammates, but Pastrnak feels his shot is still an undervalued weapon on a Bruins team woefully short of proven finishers.
“The Geeks especially have a great one-timer and a heck of a wrist shot,” Pastrnak said. “He’s an excellent shooter. So I know if I see him for just one time it will be a bullet, so I try to reach for him.
Saturday’s win against a team like Buffalo won’t deter those who view Boston’s 10-4-1 record under Sacco as a mirage, given the quality of some of their opponents.
But an ugly win is a vast improvement over the alternative, especially against a team like Buffalo.
“Obviously we weren’t at our best tonight and Buffalo played really well,” Sacco said. “They deserve credit. They came out, they showed they are a desperate team tonight and looking for a win. …. I really liked our resilience and I liked how we stuck to it. We responded, and that’s the most important thing tonight.
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