Recap: Bruins top Mammoth, 4-1, with Geekie’s two-goal night

A two-goal night from Morgan Geekie helped the Boston Bruins rebound from a slow start and gain control of the game to defeat the Utah Mammoth, 4-1, at the TD Garden on Tuesday night.

The Bruins have now won five of their last six games.

Pastrnak assisted on both of Geekie’s goals while Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves in the win as the B’s improved to 12-5-0 at home.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

On the power play, Sean Durzi sent a long shot on net which out front, Barrett Hayton tipped past Jeremy Swayman. 1-0 Mammoth.

The Bruins had their own power play chance at the end of the period after getting into rhythm to close out the first frame. David Pastrnak sent a pass through the seams to Morgan Geekie in the left-wing circle for a wrist shot into the net while Vitek Vanecek tried to reset. 1-1 game.

Second period:

Geekie kept the momentum going when just 23 seconds into the period when out front, he picked up the rebound from Pastrnak’s shot to give the Bruins the lead. 2-1 Bruins.

Third period:

Pavel Zacha’s shot went wide, but bounced off the end boards for Casey Mittelstadt to pick up the puck and put a quick shot past Vanecek from the goal line. 3-1 Bruins.

Michael Eyssimont backhanded exploded down the boards before cutting to the center and throwing a backhander past Vanecek. Final score: 4-1 Bruins.

Game notes

• The Bruins got off to a slow start, which seems as expected after a road trip. They just seemed like they were slower in all zones to the Mammoth, only registering one shot on net for most of the first half of the period, and had trouble connecting. Postgame, Geekie said he felt the Bruins were flat out of the gate as sometimes the first game back from the road can be sleepy.
• But the B’s began to build their game, capitalizing on the power play with short, hard passes and such a beautiful pass by Pastrnak to Geekie. The Bruins reset after the first period and quickly attacked in the second with Geekie tallying both goals. It was Geekie’s fifth multi-goal game this season. He was so close to getting the hat trick in the third, but Vanecek poked it away. He now has the second most goals this season in the league.
• Postgame, Geekie was asked about the Bruins being able to wear teams down and being tough to play against. He said the team is well conditioned, adding all four lines are able to play off each other and it shows how the Bruins are built.
• Swayman was a big factor in keeping it a one-goal game for the first period as the Bruins slowly began to find their game with the last several minutes left in the frame. He continued to make timely saves and tracked the puck well.
• In four career games against Utah, Pastrnak has now registered at least a point in each. He’s now 2G, 3A, 5PTS against them over the last two seasons.
• The Bruins will continue their five-game homestand on Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Edmonton Oilers.