Player Discussion Morgan Geekie

[HumBucker]

Nice to see Geekie heating up lately. He seems to have the shooting ability that Wahlstrom was supposed to have.

 

[Gee Wally]

Morgan Geekie is finding his groove, and the Bruins are better for it - The Boston Globe

After a slow start, Geekie has 16 points on the season and six goals in December.

www.bostonglobe.com

Morgan Geekie has been getting lost, and that’s helped him find his game.

The Bruins winger scored his eighth goal of the season in the club’s 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets Saturday night at TD Garden. He added an assist on David Pastrnak’s goal in the latest of a string of strong performances from Geekie, who has 16 points on the season.

Geekie acknowledged he got off to a slow start this season, but he’s found his groove and is having a December to remember. His Saturday snipe was his sixth of the month, one behind Brad Marchand, who has a team-high seven for the month.

Playing on the left side with Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, Geekie had a simple explanation for his surge.

“Just kind of getting back to my game,” he said. “I think I had chances coming in and we were trying to find ourselves as a team too, but it’s nice we strung a couple wins together and it was good to kind of help them produce and especially with the role playing with [Pastrnak] and [Zacha] and just trying to pitch in where I can and get those guys the puck, too. So yeah, just try to stick to my game and be responsible on both ends.”

The 6-foot-3-inch Geekie has one of the hardest and most accurate shots from outside the circles (see recent goals vs. the Sabres and Blue Jackets), but he also is adept at finding the soft spots in the high-traffic areas and converting from there (see his tally against the Flames).

“Yeah, just trying to get lost I think is the big one. [Pastrnak] and [Zacha] are great players, and they draw a lot of attention, so I mean that whole shift I was just trying to get lost,” Geekie said of his goal in Boston’s 4-3 overtime win in Calgary.

“They didn’t really see me come on the ice, so I was trying to stay under the radar and Pasta made a great pass to [Mason Lohrei], and [Andrew Peeke] slid down. It’s kind of everything that we talk about in here, and I just happened to be in the right spot. So, anytime you can get inside that house inside the dots, it helps a lot. And then pucks got to find you too, so just being in the right spots and got to get a little lucky too, so it’s all good.”

The Bruins are 7-0 when Geekie lights the lamp. He has 12 points in the past 15 games and goals in four of the past seven games. It’s a small sample size, but that equates to a 40-goal pace. Geekie had career highs in goals (17) and points (39) last season, and with a strong second half, those numbers are well within reach.

Geekie said one of the keys to the Bruins’ recent success — they’re 12-5-1 since Joe Sacco took over behind the bench and 20-14-4 overall — has been a “less thinking, more doing” attitude on the ice.

“I think we’re getting there,” Geekie said. “I think the details for us are coming for sure. And I think you saw that as the game went on in Calgary and then in Vancouver, how well we can play when we just start playing hockey and stick to our systems and stuff.

“But when we get away from that, that’s when we start to struggle a little bit. So, our coaches are great about harping on us and staying honest about that, but we also take a lot of pride in that in the room. [Marchand] and the leadership group are good about staying on guys and staying accountable to themselves, too. So, just staying true to our game and playing to our strengths. And just sticking to that.”

 

[quietbruinfan]

I like sticking to strengths. i think that works well for Geekie and to a degree Coyle and others. However have to ask, who is the leadership group? Marchy, Mac, and Pasta in his own way. Maybe Coyle.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Toronto?

Matthews injury and Knies concussion are a not insignificant dent in their top 6.

 

[BMC]

The Geek is playing well with Pasta & Zacha. Thankfully Sacco let them develop chemistry instead of splitting them up right away.

Hopefully they stay together.

 

[PlayMakers]

He's been playing great. He does a lot of the grunt work for that line. He forechecks and pressures. He hits. He creates the turnovers that lead to a little chaos and opportunities for offense. (Coyle is doing the same for Marchand and Lindholm.) It's hard to score on teams when they're in their defensive structure so those players that create a turnover and a bit of turmoil allow you to catch them out of position or adjusting.

 

[TD Charlie]

I still don’t think he is a long term solution as a top 6 threat, but I am open to him proving me wrong.

 

[NDiesel]

The Geek is playing well with Pasta & Zacha. Thankfully Sacco let them develop chemistry instead of splitting them up right away.

Hopefully they stay together.

Definitely proving me wrong, hope he can keep it up with them

 

[Dr Hook]

I still don’t think he is a long term solution as a top 6 threat, but I am open to him proving me wrong.

Who knows, but it's possible. He has a beast of a shot and is willing to muck and grind and do the dirty work that will create offense. He is also just coming into his prime, really- this is his 4th full time NHL season, so still some upside with him.