BOSTON — As he entered the zone, Morgan Geekie needed to look casual enough for the Colorado goalie and defenseman to let their guard down, while at the same time acting quickly enough to make a play before time expired in the second period.
So the Bruins forward let himself coast for a moment through the left wing face-off circle like he was simply trying to prevent an icing and a faceoff at the other end.
Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson, who was trailing a step behind, angled right to meet Geekie behind the net and goalie Scott Wedgewood slid left to protect the far post.
But Geekie quickly dug his blades in hard and changed direction. It’s a skating drill that hockey players have been doing since their earliest practice. Stop hard and go back the other way.
Geekie did and took just one step back toward the goalie’s right. Manson reacted, but his momentum caused him to lose his footing and slid down behind the net. Wedgewood tried to recover, but was too late.
Geekie hooked his stick and stuffed the puck just inside the left post, a split second ahead of Wedgewood’s late skate.
“I tried to go in like I wasn’t trying to do much and then I slipped it in that side,” he said. “Obviously, it worked out.”
The goal gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead with 4.5 seconds left in the second period.
Suddenly, they controlled a game where they’d been outshot and largely outplayed. They headed to the dressing room, excited and more confident than they’d been just moments before.
“I thought that was the biggest goal of the day,” Marco Sturm said. “Going into the period with a two-goal lead was huge.”
Geekie’s tally proved critical. The Avalanche scored a late goal with their goalie pulled, but the Bruins held on for a 3-2 victory, ending their six-game losing streak, while dealing Colorado its first regular-season loss.
Two nights ago, Geekie said he was “embarrassed” after an unacceptable loss to the Ducks. On Saturday, his willingness to try to make one more play in those final seconds made his teammates proud.
“It’s a great example of playing to the last whistle. It’s hard to do,” Jeremy Swayman said. “We have a lot of games in a short amount of time. He’s a player who doesn’t give up on any play. It’s really good to see him have success.”
The Bruins came into Saturday’s game a flawed team and left still a flawed team. The Avalanche’s first goal was another example of guys still unsure of where they’re supposed to be. They were outshot 31-19.
They’ve been offensively inconsistent and defensively disappointing. Saturday doesn’t fix that. But in the dressing room after Thursday’s loss, the Bruins were rattled.
On Saturday, they bought themselves some time. There are issues to address. Marco Sturm spoke at length before the game about his team’s struggles to acclimate to his defensive structure and the steps still to be taken.
But the win was evidence that this isn’t “Last Year 2.0.”
“We still have work to do. Nothing will change. I’m glad the bleeding is a little bit over today,” he said. “We’ll be back at it tomorrow.”
Geekie was eager to build off the win.
“We came in yesterday, had a long video session and cleaned up a lot of things today,” he said. “There’s still room for improvement. We’re not going to stop at one, but it’s a good step in the right direction. It’s real easy to build off a game like today.”
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