Geekie scores again, Bruins defeat Devils

Morgan Geekie scored for the 10th time in nine games, and Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves to help the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday.

Geekie’s 22 goals in 30 games are his second-most in an NHL season behind 33 goals in 77 games last season.

Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt and Andrew Peeke each scored for the Bruins (17-13-0), who have won consecutive games for the first time since a seven-game winning streak from Oct. 28-Nov. 11.

“Just doing whatever it takes to win,” Geekie said. “Sometimes, they aren’t pretty. It’s tough to win in this League. They’re a good team. So, I think it’s just kudos to everybody up and down the lineup.”

Timo Meier had a goal, and Jake Allen made 17 saves for the Devils (16-12-1), who have lost five in a row for the first time since Dec. 9-20, 2022.

“I thought we controlled play,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The shot clock was indicative of that. Obviously, we made some mistakes on some breakouts, turnovers. They got back in quick-strike offense. They got the goals that they needed. So, that ultimately ends up being the difference.

“But once again, we play a good enough game to be in the position to win. We’re just not able to sustain offense and build offense enough to get on the right side of it.”

Minten put Boston ahead 1-0 at 17:42 of the first period. Mark Kastelic stole the puck from Simon Nemec in the corner and passed to the right face-off circle, setting up Minten for a snap shot.

“I want to score, but I’m doing a good job of getting some chances,” said Minten, who scored for the first time since Nov. 8. “So, just staying positive, staying with it. The goalies are really good out there, so learning how to beat them. Just keep going forward.”

Meier scored his sixth goal in nine games 57 seconds later, tying it 1-1 at 18:39 by tapping in a rebound after Nico Hischier tipped a point shot from Luke Hughes off the skate of Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm.

The Devils were shut out for 146:48 since Meier scored at 11:51 of the third period in a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. They lost 3-0 to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and 3-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

“I thought over the last little stretch, we’ve gone away from the things we do well and make us successful,” New Jersey forward Connor Brown said. “Tonight, I thought we got back to it. I mean, I thought we didn’t give them any space. Our pace was up. We really seemed like we found our identity again.”

Geekie gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead on their sixth shot on goal of the game and first of four in the second period at 1:12, a one-timer to the left of the net set up by Elias Lindholm.

Jonas Siegenthaler nearly tied it at 19:06 with a point shot that hit Swayman’s right shoulder before going off the left post.

Mittelstadt made it 3-1 at 16:25 of the third period by tapping in a pass above the crease from Pavel Zacha before Peeke scored an empty-net goal at 17:46 for the 4-1 final.

“We probably made them tired, right?” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “They spent way too much time in our end. ... We kind of regrouped a little bit (after the second period) and had a much better third period.”

New Jersey outshot Boston 30-21, including 21-9 in the first two periods.

“The second period, we’re rolling over lines, getting good looks, opportunities, pucks to the net,” Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “Couple posts. A couple, just, ‘almost theres.’ We’ve got to understand that that’s the right way to play.

“We look fast. We look connected. A couple breakdowns that are just costing us.”

NOTES: Geekie has the third-most goals by a Bruins player through 30 games in the past 50 years behind Cam Neely (34 in 1993-94) and David Pastrnak (25 in 2019-20). ... Hughes had the secondary assist on Meier’s goal to reach 108 NHL points (18 goals, 90 assists), tied with Barry Beck for the fourth-most by a Devils defenseman at age 22 or younger. They trail Scott Niedermayer (139), Joe Cirella (117) and Rob Ramage (111).