Geekie scores 2, Bruins rally in 3rd to defeat Canadiens

Morgan Geekie scored two of three Boston Bruins power-play goals in a 4-3 comeback win against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday.

Charlie McAvoy had three assists, Fraser Minten had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for Boston (30-20-2), which has won consecutive games, and eight of nine.

“It’s an excellent character win,” Swayman said. “The way we came back and had life in the third [period] when it mattered is really important for our group. So we’re happy with that one.”

Cole Caufield scored his second NHL hat trick, Nick Suzuki had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 17 saves for Montreal (28-17-7), which has lost consecutive games.

“We didn’t execute plays, didn’t get pucks in, and the PK fell short tonight,” Canadiens forward Jake Evans said. “If you give up three PK goals you’re probably going to lose.”

The Bruins scored twice in 12 seconds in the third period to take the 4-3 lead.

“It doesn’t feel great at all,” Caufield said. “This game happens quick and these moments are huge. These are the moments you look back on and you hope it doesn’t bite you in the [bottom] because you have the lead going into the third against a pretty good team that’s chasing us, that needs those points, and we’ve got to have the same urgency. It’s very frustrating.”

Minten scored at 13:55 to tie it 3-3, scoring on a backhand from the slot after his shot attempt bounced back to him off Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier.

“In the situations where it’s there it’s hard for goalies to read,” Minten said about the backhand shot. “So you get it off and sometimes it works.”

Geekie scored 12 seconds later to put the Bruins up 4-3 at 14:07. He scored his second goal of the game, his 100th in the NHL and Boston’s third on the power play, on a one-timer from the point.

“We’ve played some good teams over the last little while but we didn’t come out very strong today,” Geekie said. “But to be able to come back in the third and put together a solid performance and at the end of the day get the two points, that’s all that matters.”

Caufield, who gave the Canadiens three one-goal leads, has 10 points (eight goals, two assists) during his third five-game goal streak in the NHL.

But he put personal accomplishments aside in the wake of the loss.

“That’s what’s more important right now, it always is, and this was a huge two points that we needed,” Caufield said. “So back to work next week and we’ve got to learn from this one.”

Caufield scored at 6:36 of the first period to put the Canadiens up 1-0. He sped between Jonathan Aspirot and Elias Lindholm to score stick side from the slot on a flip pass from Mike Matheson, who held up to draw defenders after carrying the puck up the middle.

Viktor Arvidsson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 1:45 of the second period. He put away his own rebound from the right side of the goalmouth after Montembeault stuck out his left pad to stop Arvidsson’s first shot on a backdoor pass from Minten.

Caufield got his second goal of the game on a power play at 7:37 to give Montreal a 2-1 lead, scoring on a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Geekie tied it 2-2 at 9:46 with Boston’s second straight power-play goal. He shot into a wide-open net from the left edge of the crease on a pass from David Pastrnak.

Caufield made it 3-2 at 13:29 with his second straight power-play goal, exploiting a small opening over Swayman’s right shoulder with a precise shot from an even tighter angle than his previous goal.

NOTES: Caufield’s goal streak is one game short of tying Montreal’s longest in the past 30 years. Max Pacioretty had a six-game goal streak in 2014-15 and Max Domi scored in six straight games in 2019-20. … The two goals in 12 seconds were the Bruins’ fastest pair of tallies since Dec. 3, 2022, when Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk scored 10 seconds apart in the third period of a 5-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche.