Morgan Geekie scored two goals, and David Pastrnak added a goal and two assists to help the Boston Bruins beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.
The Bruins (25-20-6), now 5-1-1 in their last seven games, were led by goalie Jeremy Swayman, who made 26 saves in his return after missing one game due to a minor upper-body injury suffered during a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
“It’s something we wanted to monitor and get solved pretty quickly,” Swayman said about the injury.
“The trainers worked their magic, and I was able to get back out there today and feel really good … (Friday) was a good practice to get back into a rhythm, feel the puck, see plays develop, and I was able to watch our game against Ottawa as well, so visually learning allows me to get back on the ice and hopefully to have a seamless transition.”
Artturi Lehkonen scored for the Avalanche, and Scott Wedgewood made 12 saves. The Avalanche (28-20-2) have now lost three games in a row.
“I thought our guys did a nice job,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said about playing less than 24 hours after Mikko Rantanen was traded after spending 10 years with the team.
“They came ready to play and play hard and play well. They’re all pros. I’m sure their minds thinking of that kind of stuff last night and their teammate prior to the game at points.
But I thought they did a great job with their focus. I thought we played hard, played to the game plan, didn’t capitalize on some of our chances and we kind of fell asleep for a couple minutes and it cost us the game, but I thought they did a nice job with their focus.”
Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:30 of the second period. Juuso Parssinen controlled the puck, gained the offensive line, and fed a backhand pass to Lehkonen. He received it in the right face-off circle and his shot from the dot beat Swayman to the stick side.
The Bruins, who had only eight shots on goal through the first two periods, tied the game 1-1 when Geekie scored 25 seconds into the third period.
Geekie played a major role
Geekie then put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 5:44. Pastrnak controlled the puck behind the Colorado net, skated around Wedgewood’s right side, and found Geekie on the far post for a tap-in goal.
Geekie has now scored six goals in his last seven games.
“It’s growing,” he said of his chemistry with Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. “We’ve played together for a while now and it’s always easier when you learn the habits of the guys you’re playing with and it’s always fun to play with guys with lots of skill.
For me, you’re in awe with the things [Pastrnak] does with the puck and I just try to get open. It’s lots of fun right now, so let’s keep having fun.”
Pastrnak scored an empty-net goal with three seconds left to seal the 3-1 win. He extended his point streak to seven games, with seven goals and 10 assists, and has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in his last 12 games.
“He’s finding his game,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “He’s getting that confidence level up to where it usually is. We’ve said it before, he was going to find his offense sooner or later.
He’s too talented of a player and he’s competitive. He wants to help the team win offensively, and that’s how he feels he helps the team in most cases.
He takes it upon himself to make sure he’s producing at a high level and that’s what he’s doing now. He’s seeing the game very well and he’s feeling good about himself again.”
