Morgan Geekie is officially the hottest goalscorer in the National Hockey League.
Geekie scored twice Friday night in Los Angeles, including the game-winner in overtime, to power the Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Geekie is now tied with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for the league lead in goals with 16, as he’s scored four times over his past two games. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov sparked the winning play with a strong backcheck against the Kings’ Quinton Byfield followed by a long pass to David Pastrnak. No. 88 corralled the puck and fed it to Geekie as the latter streaked down the middle of the ice and gained the zone. Geekie’s snap shot whizzed by Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper to give the B’s their 13th win of the season.
Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped 31 of 32 Kings shots to improve to 9-5 on the season. He’s made 30 or more saves in seven of his 14 starts so far this season. The Bruins are 5-2 in those games. The lone blemish on the netminder’s night was a shorthanded tally by L.A. forward Joel Armia, in which he made the initial save but lost the rebound to the other side of the rush. On the blue line, Zadorov logged two assists and led the Bruins 26:19 of ice time. Andrew Peeke led the way on the right side of the defense, as the Bruins continue to adjust to life without Charlie McAvoy, who is out indefinitely after undergoing facial surgery.
Boston leapfrogged three Atlantic Division clubs to retake first place with the win, picking up two points with the competition all idle. However, the Bruins have played the most games in the Eastern Conference through Friday, and their .565 point percentage ranks 13th of 16 teams. The Red Wings (vs. Blue Jackets), Lightning (at Capitals), and Senators (at Sharks) will all be back in action Saturday and will try to re-leapfrog the B’s.
The Bruins, meanwhile, will stay out west, get a day off, then catch the Sharks on the second leg of their back-to-back on Sunday at SAP Center. The teams are getting the prime-time treatment, as they’ll drop the puck at 8 p.m. EST with the broadcast on ESPN.
Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.