Morgan Geekie nets two third-period goals as Bruins come back to beat Avalanche, 3-1

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Jan 25, 2025

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — The Bruins played a rope-a-dope game for two periods before Morgan Geekie scored two early third-period goals off a pair of beautiful David Pastrnak assists to lift the B’s over the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1, at TD Garden.

The Avs are now without Mikko Rantanen after Friday’s blockbuster, but their team speed is still obviously superior to most teams, including the Bruins, which was evident for much of the afternoon. But the B’s did a decent job limiting the high danger chances and kept them within striking distance.

Pastrnak sealed it with an empty-netter.

Geekie now has four goals in his last three games and 14 in the last 28 games.

The first period was scoreless, and that felt like a small victory for the Bruins. The reconstituted Avs, who had newcomer Martin Necas on Nathan MacKinnon’s right wing and Jack Drury centering the third line, outshot the Bruins, 12-5, and appeared to be playing keep-away for much of the period. Jeremy Swayman, back in action after missing a game with upper body injury, looked comfortable in net.

The B’s good fortune would not last long into the second period, 1:30 to be exact. Artturi Lehkonen took a nice drop pass from Drury and snapped a shot from the right dot that beat Swayman to the far blocker side.

The second period was a low-event 20 minutes, with the Avs outshooting the B’s 7-3 as the Bruins had major issues breaking the puck out. The visitors got a late power play thanks to a Pastrnak tripping penalty with 1:51 left in the period.

The B’s did a solid job of killing it off and, after Pastrnak was freed on the first shift of the third third period, the usual suspects tied it up. Operating on the right wing, Pastrnak fed Geekie for a low one-timer in the mid-slot that beat Scott Wedgewood for his 14th of the year and third in as many games just 24 seconds into the third.

The suddenly dynamic duo put the Bruins on top at 5:44. Pastrnak took the puck behind the net, took out front on the left side and fed Geekie for a tap-in.