The Bruins found themselves in Letdown Territory early Tuesday night.

That’s not their fault, necessarily. The first game back from a road trip always comes with that concern. And even though the Bruins weren’t gone all that long — they were away from TD Garden for just three games and away from Boston for just a week — the first period had you feeling like the Bruins were already there.

But like they have so many times this season, the Bruins got better as the game went along. Significantly so, in fact. There was no denying the relentless grind game the Bruins put on the visiting Mammoth, as it was painfully apparent that the Mammoth were on fumes by the time the third period rolled around.

“I think we all take pride in [playing physical] and just being tough to play against,” Bruins winger Morgan Geekie said following the Black and Gold’s 4-1 win. “We’re kinda built that way and we’re able to roll four lines and everybody can contribute.

“And I think you see that night in and night out.”

With the win, the Bruins improved to 12-5-0 on home ice this season, giving them the fourth-best point percentage among all NHL teams this season, at .706.

Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…

3rd Star: Jeremy Swayman

Dec 16, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) celebrates beating Utah Mammoth with teammates at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)

Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman wasn’t tasked with the biggest workload of his life Tuesday night at TD Garden. In fact, his 20 saves were the fewest he’s needed in a winning effort this season, beating his Oct. 11 win over the Sabres by one save. But when the Bruins needed a key stop, their No. 1 ace in goal was there.

And though the Bruins were ultimately cruising by the end of this one, some of Swayman’s best work came with the Bruins protecting a one-goal lead in the second and third period of play. One of his better saves came in the third period, and with the Bruins down a man, as Swayman was able to deny the Mammoth’s Clayton Keller on what was a point-blank look to Swayman’s left.

Swayman finished this game with a perfect 16-for-16 line at five-on-five, and also stopped all six high-danger shots faced at all-situation play, per Natural Stat Trick.

2nd Star: Nikita Zadorov

Oct 30, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov (91) gets set for a face-off during the third period against the Sabres at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images)

Whether it’s the 6-foot-7, 255-pound frame itself, his penchant for doling out board-shaking hits at the exact right time, or his underrated ability to jump into the rush as an attacker, No. 91 in black is seemingly always popping off the sheet.

But one thing that’s served the Bruins well this year has been Zadorov’s ability to use all of those skills to be a ‘heartbeat’ talent. An alarm clock, at times. The not-so-gentle reminder that it’s time to wake up. Zadorov was clearly that player for the B’s on Tuesday, and had a strong game in all three zones to back it up.

Deployed for 21:05 of time on ice, Zadorov led the Boston backend with five blocks and four hits, and also chimed in with an assist and a plus-2 rating for the B’s. And on the Black and Gold’s third goal of the night (which really was the one that put this game to bed in their favor), Zadorov read the play perfectly and had a great net drive that opened up time and space for the Bruins to strike on what was essentially a second-chance opportunity for Casey Mittelstadt. 

1st Star: Morgan Geekie

Dec 16, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins forward Morgan Geekie (39) celebrates his goal against the Mammoth with his bench during the second period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)

Riding a three-game goal drought coming into this contest, Bruins winger Morgan Geekie (22 goals) was teetering on almost falling too far behind the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon (26 goals) in the Rocket Richard race. (Because we all know MacKinnon isn’t going to stop scoring anytime soon, obviously.)

But, naturally, a return to Garden ice allowed Geekie to get his goal-scoring sticks right, this time with a two-goal outing against the Mammoth.

Honestly, Geekie probably should’ve potted another one or two by the night’s end in this one, as he was buzzing all around the attacking zone. (Geekie actually led the team in both individual scoring chances for and individual high-danger scoring chances for, with five and three respectively, according to NaturalStatTrick).

Now up to 24 goals on the year, Geekie is just nine goals away from matching last year’s career-high of 33, and with another 48 games to go in the season.

Should he stay healthy and remain scoring at this rate (it feels like we keep waiting for a comedown that’s yet to come), Geekie would finish his season with an absolutely insane 58 goals. Those are the kind of totals that’ll put you in a Rocket conversation… so long as MacKinnon chills out for a minute (he won’t).