Morgan Geekie was quite sure if the meeting was intentional or happenstance, but he appreciated it nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Geekie, still the Bruins leading goalscorer with 26 tallies, had been without goal in 12 games when team president Cam Neely, who knows a thing or two about scoring goals, came up to him inside the B\u2019s dressing room at the Garden. Geekie had been trying everything he could to get his goalscoring mojo back, leaning into a bit of superstition to do the trick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were by the stick rack and he was just quizzing me about why I changed everything, the color of my tape and whatever,\u201d said Geekie after Saturday\u2019s morning skate. \u201cHe just told me to take it easy and it will come eventually. It was all lighthearted, but he cares a lot and he wants me to produce and wants what\u2019s best for the team, so however I can do that is what he\u2019s looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not many people considered Geekie a goalscorer, not even the player himself, for the first few years of his career. But then he scored 50 goals in the calendar year of 2025 and signed a six-year, $33 million contract in the midst of that run. The perception of who he is as a player changed dramatically in a relatively short period of time.<\/p>\n
Geekie is not from the exact same mold as Neely, who was prototypical power forward. But they share a main asset \u2013 goalscoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that was maybe an identity I took on the last year or so, so to have someone of his stature and what he\u2019s accomplished here kind of relate to me a little, I was able to take a deep breath and rest,\u201d said Geekie. \u201cIt means a lot. It\u2019s definitely important for me as a player to just be able to (realize) everyone goes through it, no matter how good you are. It\u2019s just how the game works. He did say just \u2018when chances stop coming, that\u2019s when you need to be worried.\u2019 But they haven\u2019t yet so we\u2019ll just try to keep creating and one will go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geekie finally stopped in the skid on Tuesday in Dallas, though it wasn\u2019t exactly an opportunity to celebrate. The goal came on a deflection when the B\u2019s were down 6-0 late in the third period.<\/p>\n
He said he didn\u2019t necessarily feel a weight come off his shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it would matter more,\u201d said Geekie. \u201cIt sucks when you\u2019re in it but we\u2019ve been winning the whole time, so I don\u2019t know. Obviously you want to have personal success but it makes it pretty easy to come to the rink when you win eight, nine games. Obviously I want to produce, I want to help the team win but I\u2019m OK to take a back seat and watch other guys do it, for sure. Guys are stepping up and I think that\u2019s kudos to the depth we have in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he wasn\u2019t great in every game he played during the drought, he did hit a remarkable number of posts, something he find some measure of solace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things where, if those pucks go in, we don\u2019t really talk about anything. I know it\u2019s kind of lucky, but I\u2019ve said I feel like I\u2019ve been unlucky for a long, long time,\u201d said Geekie. \u201cI just want to continue to get chances and when chances stop coming, that\u2019s when we should be maybe a bit worried. But I hit two posts last game and I don\u2019t know how many before that. I just want to keep putting pucks on net and hopefully one of them will go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geekie did not score in the B\u2019s 4-3 win over Vegas on Thursday but he did pick up a couple of helpers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been someone who shoots the puck a ton and I\u2019m still not someone who shoots the puck a ton. I always try to look for the better play. That\u2019s just how I was brought up,\u201d said Geekie. \u201cI think it\u2019s fun to see a couple of goals we scored on the power play, to see us zip it around. To me, that\u2019s just good hockey and that\u2019s the result I\u2019m always looking for. Recently I\u2019ve been on the receiving end of a lot of those. It\u2019s fun to play set-up man every once in a while.\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n
In the first two Bruins-Canadiens games, there were fights right off the opening draw. Coach Marco Sturm took a boys-will-be-boys view on it. Of course, Sturm also started players who can handle themselves in both games \u2013 Nikita Zadorov in the first game in Montreal and Tanner Jeannot in the game in Boston. He said there was no forethought on his part.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth times, I actually didn\u2019t. I really didn\u2019t (think about it). And it happened, so maybe I should,\u201d said Sturm with a laugh. \u201cI just want to play and I\u2019m one of those coaches who wants to have a good start, I want to set the tone right away, maybe not just fighting but just overall having a good start. But the players chose to go that way. That\u2019s OK, too.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n
With the winter storm bearing down on the region, the B\u2019s made plans to fly out immediately after Saturday night\u2019s game to New York, where they\u2019re scheduled to take on Rangers on Monday.<\/p>\n
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