Those within the Bruins' organization talk at great length about the “next man up” mentality when injuries, suspensions or anything else unforeseen subtracts from their day-to-day lineup.
But that’s really only lip service unless the players actually do step up and perform when fate presents an opportunity to do so. Certainly, that opportunity is there right now with stalwarts Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha currently missing and day-to-day with upper body injuries.
Morgan Geekie was a guy that was going to earn an elevated role and opportunity with Zacha out of the lineup, and he led the way by stepping up and helping the Bruns get a point in a hotly contested 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night.
“You feel it, I guess, in crucial moments, right?” said Jim Montgomery of the absence of both McAvoy and Zacha in the lineup. “Special teams, faceoffs and matchups a little bit. You lose two guys out of your lineup that play 20 minutes a night and you’re going to feel it.
“But I loved the way we competed, and I loved the way the guys that got the extra minutes competed, and the way the guys that were inserted into the lineup competed. So there were a lot of good things that we liked about the game.”
Certainly, Geekie was in those categories Montgomery mentioned as he finished with his second-highest ice time (17:48) of the season, and for the first time all season has logged back-to-back games with over 17 minutes of ice time with Zacha injured. And the 25-year-old forward responded with his third goal of the season at the conclusion of an impressive shift centering Danton Heinen and James van Riemsdyk where he batted in the rebound of a JVR shot attempt on Vitek Vanacek.
It was the culmination of Geekie winning several 50/50 puck battles to keep the possession around the net before finally wearing down the Devils' defense.
“We won a few battles down low…won a few pucks,” said Geekie, who is on pace for a modest nine goals and 24 points this season. “It was good that we had a few big bodies on that line so we could stir it around a little bit underneath the [goal] line, and then got it right back to the net. Just in the right spot.”
That was the only score until the beginning of the third period when Jersey tied it up and pushed things into overtime. But it was also one of several different combinations that Geekie found himself in the middle of as he also played set-up man for David Pastrnak most of the evening. Pastrnak finished with 11 shot attempts and had no shortage of scoring attempts as Geekie got him the puck in some excellent spots in the offensive zone while riding shotgun with him.
“It’s a lot of fun [playing with Pastrnak as well]. I’m not taking it for granted for sure. When you get into the NHL you never really think about that, but it’s super special for sure,” said Geekie. “He just wants me to play my game. I just want to compliment him and go out there and get him the puck. He’s a really skilled player that makes lots of plays. He’s a special player.”
The Devils dominated the OT session by outshooting the B’s by a 7-0 margin before Jack Hughes finally ended things, but there were positives to take out of earning a point with an undermanned Bruins group against a New Jersey team that looked quick and dangerous.
“They're great, they're super skilled,” Geekie said of the Devils. “They have a lot of good young fast kids on that team and, you know, I thought we had our chances. They had theirs, and that's the best part about 3-on-3 -- guys are going to get their opportunities.
“Guys are good in this league. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes and it's just how it's going to go.”
Certainly, Geekie deserved some props while stepping into more of the role he probably envisioned for himself in Boston when he signed a two-year deal with Boston as a free agent over the summer. He isn’t a burner like some of the Devils skaters and he doesn’t have the kind of breathtaking skill that a kid like Hughes brings to the table, but Geekie flat-out wins battles with second and third effort on pucks and employs a kind of unorthodox, blue-collar puck-handling style.
That turned into two shots on net, two hits, a plus-1 and 9-of-15 wins in the faceoff circle as a top-6 center shifting between linemates for the Black and Gold. And it had the TNT television crew broadcasting the game to sing his praises on numerous occasions as one of the B’s most effective forwards.
The bottom line: it was a shining example of a role player getting a shot at something different after dutifully serving in the role carved out for him at the beginning of the season. That’s something that’s been part of Boston’s identity this season, while Geekie’s recent uptick in play shows the kind of upward lineup potential that the Bruins will hold in the second half of a season even after they’ve compiled a stunning 18-5-4 record thus far.
“I think we know what our identity is and how we need to play,” said Montgomery. “People are flourishing in their roles, and I think there is still a lot of room for growth, which is exciting for our team.”
The “next man up” mentality is only going to work for a hockey club that has players ready, willing and most importantly able to fill into bigger roles on the team, and Geekie did exactly that while helping the Bruins collect a hard-earned point on the road against a high-flying Devils group.
More must-reads: