A shot by Bruins winger Morgan Geekie with 5:50 left in regulation appeared harmless.
Out of play? Into the netting? Perhaps lost to a hole in time and now back in 1960 trying to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Nobody was sure exactly where the puck went. Well, everybody except for Geekie himself.
Before the officials could even locate the puck, Geekie motioned to check in the net. And once they did, they realized that Geekie had scored the seventh goal of the evening, and the one that ultimately proved to be the difference maker in a 4-3 comeback win over the Canadiens at Boston’s TD Garden.
“I saw a little black thing in the net, and figured the camera didn’t [move] that far over,” Geekie said of the sequence. “We didn’t come out very strong today, but to be able to come back in the third and get the two points, that’s all that matters.”
The Geekie goal, one of two for No. 39 in the win, capped what was an electric third period from the Bruins that was headlined by Boston battling back with goals from Fraser Minten and then Geekie in a span of just 12 seconds.
Boston’s first goal of the evening came courtesy of a power-play, net-front putaway from Viktor Arvidsson, which was good for his 12th goal of the season.
On the Montreal side of things, it was Cole Caufield who had all three Canadien goals. With his hat trick, Caufield became the first visiting player to score a hat trick against the Bruins since Artemi Panarin in Mar. 2024, and was the first Canadiens player to post a hat trick in Boston since Mark Recchi accomplished the feat in 1997.
In goal, the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman finished with 22 saves for the win.
Health-wise, it will be worth monitoring the status of defenseman Nikita Zadorov ahead of Monday’s game in New York. Zadorov had a nasty-looking fall in the second period, but ultimately returned for the third period. The Bruins did note that Henri Jokiharju, who was recently placed on the non-roster list due to a family matter, has returned to the team and would be available if Zadorov is not.