What precisely Morgan Geekie’s full identification will turn out to be for the Bruins stays to be seen. But when the B’s — already down Charlie McAvoy and Derek Forbort — then misplaced Pavel Zacha after the primary interval on Saturday, Geekie confirmed he’s a participant who might help them win video games.
With Zacha out with an higher physique damage, Geekie performed 17:31, his second-highest complete of the season, and he notched a hard-working help on David Pastrnak’s second objective of the sport that helped seal the 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
“Obviously whenever a player of (Zacha’s) caliber goes down, it’s obviously a hit to us,” mentioned Geekie. “But we’ve got a good group. Everyone’s going to step up, everyone’s going to play more minutes. I’m just trying to go out there and do my job and fit in anywhere I can. We have guys playing all over the place tonight and that’s just how it’s going to be some days. You’ve got to figure out ways to win in this league and that’s what we did tonight.”
When Geekie was signed within the offseason on a two-year take care of an annual wage of $2 million coming off a stable season in Seattle, the tentative concept was for him to heart a 3rd line. But 19-year-old rookie Matt Poitras popped in coaching camp, as did rookie heart John Beecher, and Geekie discovered himself on the wing. And then he suffered an higher physique damage that saved him out for a few weeks, so he’s had a tough time latching on to an outlined function.
From game-to-game or — as in Saturday’s case — in-game, Geekie has bounced from wing to heart and again once more.
“Every once in a while I’ll get caught wondering whether I’m playing wing or center, but it’s not too bad,” mentioned Geekie, who gained eight-of-12 attracts. “We have a lot of communication out there and that’s pretty good. Guys are good at working in spots and we have a pretty good system here. If everyone does their job correctly, it makes any job pretty easy. So I think if we just stick to our details and play good on both ends, it makes my job going back and forth a little easier.”
And Geekie shouldn’t be overly involved with discovering a extra outlined function.
“I’m just trying to fit in wherever,” mentioned Geekie. “Obviously we’re a great team. We’ve got some details to iron out but I’ve said it before. I’m just happy to be here and I’m happy to jump in anywhere I can, whether that’s tonight where I was playing a little more, or if I’m playing a little more of a shutdown role on the fourth line. I’m just happy to be here and I’m grateful I get to play every day.” …
Loose pucks
Matt Poitras obtained again within the lineup after sitting out Thursday’s sport in opposition to Buffalo in one thing of a rookie load administration program. Coach Jim Montgomery mentioned he’ll get occasional nights off the remainder of the way in which, one thing the coach admitted the 19-year-old wasn’t wild about.
“I think he understood but he’s really competitive,” mentioned Montgomery. “We love him because of how competitive he is, so the competitor in him doesn’t want to take any nights off. He knows why we’re doing it. It’s for his benefit and the Bruins’ benefit and he understands that. But again, he’s a competitor, so I think he’d rather play.”
Poitras had an up and down day in opposition to Arizona. He was mainly chargeable for the Coyotes’ second objective, however he additionally gained a battle alongside the boards later within the second to arrange Danton Heinen for what turned out to be the game-winner.
With the B’s in lead-protection mode, he didn’t see a shift within the third interval. He performed simply 8:26 in all.
“It’s valuing game management. It’s something we’ve talked to him about. It’s still lacking in his game right now. We’re paid to win hockey games and I’m going to go with the guys I think are going to win hockey games,” mentioned Montgomery.
Had the B’s been down two objectives as an alternative up by two, we little question would have seen extra of Poitras within the third. With assist from Trent Frederic (two assists), he made a robust play to win a battle alongside the boards after which slip the puck by to Heinen on the game-winner.
“He hangs on to pucks so well and sees the ice so well. I try to get open and be there for support and a little pop play. He’ll find you. He’s good when he has the puck in his hands,” mentioned Heinen. …
Jakub Lauko was a wholesome scratch. Montgomery mentioned it was an excellent time for Lauko, who hasn’t scored a objective in his 18 video games this 12 months, to have a reset.
“I think he has been playing well, but what we’ve seen is there’s a tail-off from the first period to the third period,” mentioned Montgomery. “Even though he knows and he relishes his role and he’s a tremendous young man, we all need to score to feel good about ourselves. You want to contribute, you want to jump in the glass and celebrate with the Bruins fans. There’s been a couple of games where he’s had some good chances early and the intensity of how he gets those chances, which is through his checking and his tenacity on pucks, kind of fades. We want him to go 60 minutes for us.” …
Montgomery mentioned Charlie McAvoy (higher physique) stays day after day.
“There’s been significant improvement, but we’re not risking today,” mentioned Montgomery. …
The B’s gained 43 out of 60 attracts on the day.
Source: www.bostonherald.com