Practice Report: Geekie, Bruins Gear Up for Two-Game Road Trip

BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins are back on the road after a brief homestand at TD Garden last week.

The first stop is Raleigh, where they'll face the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The B’s will then head to St. Louis for Thursday’s 8 p.m. ET matchup at Enterprise Center.

“Just kind of stick with what we’ve been doing,” Morgan Geekie said. “It’s always exciting to get a few good wins at home to kind of carry that energy onto the road.”

​The Bruins have collected points in eight straight games and won seven of those, most recently beating the San Jose Sharks 6-4 on Saturday. This trip will present a new challenge. Boston (9-2-1) and Carolina (9-2-2) currently have the two best records in the NHL.

“Just for me, they are champions, so we’ve got to bring our best…For me, it’s not a measuring stick. It is more like, ‘I want to beat them,’ right?” head coach Marco Sturm said. “Whoever wins the Cup, you try to play your best and show them what you’ve got.”

​Geekie was a third-round pick of the Hurricanes in the 2017 Draft. The 28-year-old forward played two full seasons in the AHL with their affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, winning the Calder Cup in the 2018-19 season. Geekie skated in a cumulative 38 games with Carolina’s main club before getting claimed by the Seattle Kraken in the July 2021 expansion draft.

“I think when you first move on, it’s a lot more prominent than it is maybe now. It’s still always that extra fire. They’ve got a great team, great organization. I honestly don’t know a ton of guys still there, but I have nothing but good things to say about Carolina,” Geekie said. “I think going to Seattle, for everybody involved, was maybe a blessing in disguise for a lot of guys. It was one of those things that I don’t think I’d be where I am without it.”

Geekie, who led the B’s with 39 goals last season, has become a key piece of the team’s top six. He is now on the second line with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov, and has nine points through 12 games – tied for third-most on the Bruins.

Head coach Marco Sturm put Minten (22 years old) and Khusnutdinov (24 years old) with Geekie just under a week ago.

“It’s great. I think everyone wishes we all had the youthful energy that they bring every day. You kind of see in the room how loose it is when it needs to be. But they do a good job of reining it back in and channeling that for us,” Geekie said. “It’s tons of fun. Especially being in the league a few years now, it’s fun to see those guys come in and just a different outlook on a lot of things. It’s fun to come to the rink."

Before the road trip, Geekie dressed up for Bruins Halloween with Will Borgen, who he also played with in Seattle. The two were Ricky and Julian from Trailer Park Boys.

Borgen is in his first season with Boston after getting traded from the New York Rangers in July, and has gotten off to a strong start. The 29-year-old defenseman has four points (two goals, two assists) while averaging 18:45 of ice time per night. Both of his tallies have been empty-netters.

​“I found out today that he didn’t score an empty-net goal until he came to Boston – since high school,” Sturm said. “Why is he out there [during the final minutes]? Because he’s not playing shy. I think he’s been excellent. He’s a quiet kid, but I feel like he plays an aggressive style on the ice…He’s been a great addition to our D.”

Borgen, Geekie and the whole Bruins squad will look to keep the momentum rolling this week, starting with the Hurricanes.

​“I think we kind of understand how they’re going to play going in there. I think it is always a battle going into that rink especially. They’re the defending champs for a reason, so we know we’re going to have our hands full. But I think we’ve been playing great hockey,” Geekie said. “Everyone is buying in, and we’ll just try to build off that.”