The Bruins’ top defenseman and US Olympian had missed the last 11 games following surgery for a facial fracture after getting hit with a slap shot Nov. 15 in Montreal.

The Bruins went 6-5 during McAvoy’s absence.

“I think I had the usual jitters and the little anxiety before coming back and anytime you take some time off, you’re always kind of feeling that, ‘Where am I going to be when I get back?’ And to be honest, I felt really good and I think that’s a credit to the work that we’ve done and just a lot of skates back in Boston that no one really sees,” McAvoy said. “And the off-the-ice work with [director of performance] Kevin [Neeld] and the strength staff, so we’ve been working hard to get it back and like I said, you don’t really know until you get into the game, but I felt pretty good. So now just keep it going.”

Get Starting Point

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.

McAvoy — who normally plays around 210 pounds — lost close to 20 pounds after the injury, but has regained some of his weight. Paired with Nikita Zadorov, McAvoy said it was a group decision with the Bruins staff as far as his return is concerned.

He’s been buoyed by regaining his energy and strength the last few days.

“We were ramping up and getting excited and wanting to come back, and this team really is special,” said McAvoy. “It’s a lot of fun to be a part of. It’s a lot of fun to come to the rink and I knew I was going to be back soon, but we didn’t know exactly when. So, it ended up being [tonight], the option to play and I just wanted to jump back in.

“Oftentimes when the doc says it’s safe, you just want to get back in because a night like tonight, you get the conditioning back on the fly, the speed, the pace, the playing, the best way to get it back is to just play. So, it was good to get into it tonight and happy to be a part of a win.”

Yellowhead Highway was jammed with Morgan Geekie’s family, friends, and fans making their way to Winnipeg.

Geekie said he wasn’t sure how many of his devotees would be filing into Canada Life Centre, but he knew a good portion of Strathclair, Manitoba — population around 700 according to the latest Canadian census, though Geekie estimated the number is much lower — would be there.

“My parents, my grandparents, my auntie and … I don’t know. A lot,” Geekie said.

The three-hour trek was nothing compared to the ride Geekie’s been on this season. He didn’t add to his 22 goals Thursday, second in the league, but did have two assists.

The numbers don’t matter much to Geekie’s devotees, however. They’d make the trip no matter his stats.

“All the people that I talked to growing up, they’re still either my friends I had in high school or grew up with and stuff like that,” he said. “So, honestly, it doesn’t really change much and those people that I grew up with in the community, they would still say hi to me no matter what I was doing if I was walking down the street. So, I’m sure it’s cool and I really appreciate them coming.”

Geekie’s hot start is a continuation of his smoldering second half of the 2024-25 season, when he potted a career-high 33 goals. In fact, Geekie leads the NHL with 41 regular-season goals since Jan. 1 and he is on pace to become just the third Bruin to score 60 in a season, where he would join Phil Esposito (four times) and David Pastrnak.

Geekie, who grew up skating at the Strathclair Community Arena — “It doubled as a horse stable in the summer,” he noted — entered the season with a clear head.

“Coming into camp knowing what my role is going to be and to be relied upon to produce,” said Geekie. “I think whenever you can do that, and obviously I signed a longer contract [six years, $33 million] in the summer, it just gives you a little bit of stability and allows you to come in and just focus on one thing at a time and it kind of makes hockey fun again and just allows you to forget about the little things and just go play.”

Forwards Mikey Eyssimont and Jeffrey Viel and defenseman Victor Soderstrom were the healthy scratches for the Bruins . . . The Jets remain without Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Hart and Vezina winner, who had arthroscopic knee surgery and has been on the shelf since Nov. 15. The goalie was on the ice for Wednesday’s practice and Thursday’s morning skate but isn’t expected back between the pipes until after Christmas . . . The Bruins are off Friday. They will practice in St. Paul on Saturday before facing the Wild on Sunday to close the three-game trip . . . The Bruins begin a five-game homestand Tuesday against the Mammoth, followed by visits from the Oilers (Dec. 18), Canucks (Dec. 20), Senators (Dec. 21), and Canadiens (Dec. 23) . . . The Bruins won’t be back on the road until after Christmas, when they kick off a five-game journey Dec. 27 in Buffalo.

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.