Down their top forward and their top defenseman, the Bruins needed Jeremy Swayman to go above and beyond on Saturday night against the Red Wings.

And when a 24-of-26 performance through 65 minutes of hockey wasn’t enough, Swayman once again rose to the challenge. This time in the extra extra frame, as the 27-year-old stopped all three Detroit shooters on the way to a 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings at TD Garden.

Without a goal for either side through 20 minutes, the Bruins got to their game in the second period, and struck first at the 4:25 mark of middle frame. The goal came from a familiar source for the Bruins, too, as it was Morgan Geekie who tipped an Elias Lindholm shot through Cam Talbot.

The goal was Geekie’s 19th of the season, and his 10th in the month of November alone. It also moved Geekie back within one goal of tying Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon for the most in the NHL.

And while the Geekie marker would be the lone Boston tally of the second period, it did feel like a much different period for the Bruins. And in a good way. After struggling to match the Red Wings’ go-go-go tempo in the opening frame, the Bruins were able to slow things down and tenderize the Detroit defense and force some ugly-looking turnovers.

That swing began in the first period, really, when Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves with Detroit’s Mo Seider late in the first period.

The Bruins then carried that momentum from the fight into a drawn penalty at the end of the first period, and put forth a strong power-play chance to begin the period, with at least three high-quality looks on the Wings’ Talbot.

… But most importantly, Geekie wasn’t done, and he made sure he ended the night back in a tie with MacKinnon atop the NHL leaderboard.

Back on the power play with under seven minutes to go in regulation, Geekie blasted a Mittelstadt feed through Talbot for his second of the night, and his 20th goal of the season. In doing so, Geekie not only tied MacKinnon, but also became just the 12th player in Bruins history to score at least 20 goals in the opening 27 games of a season, and the first since David Pastrnak in 2019-20.

The Geekie goal was sandwiched by Detroit strikes, however, including a Lucas Raymond tip early in the third period, as well as a game-tying strike from the Wings’ Michael Rasmussen with 1:54 left in regulation.

But in the shootout, it was Mittelstadt who saved the day, with the lone goal scored in the shootout and in the bottom of the first round.

On a lineup front, David Pastrnak missed his second straight game for the Bruins with a suspected lower-body injury, while Pavel Zacha returned to play after missing Friday’s loss with an upper-body injury. Fourth-line wing Jeffrey Viel also returned to the Boston lineup after missing the last four games due to an injury sustained in a Nov. 19 fight with Anaheim’s Radko Gudas.

Zacha was slotted between Mittelstadt and Marat Khusnutdinov on Boston’s second line for this contest, but it is worth noting that Zacha did not take any faceoffs in this one until the Boston’s penalty kill in the overtime frame.

The Bruins were also forced to play this game without Henri Jokiharju. With Jokiharju placed on injured reserve ahead of this game, the Bruins recalled Michael Callahan from AHL Providence for his first NHL appearance since Oct. 27 in Ottawa. Skating opposite Mason Lohrei on Boston’s third pairing, Callahan finished this contest with three blocks in 12:45 of action.

With the quick two-game homestand behind them, the Bruins and Red Wings will get right back to it for a Tuesday night head-to-head in Detroit.