Bruins Practice: Sturm Eyes Cup Champions; Geekie Talks Scoring Struggles

BRIGHTON – The Boston Bruins are gearing up for a two-game road trip, one that begins with a matchup against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.

The Bruins have points in their last eight games (7-0-1) and a three-point cushion at the top of the Atlantic Division. The Hurricanes have points in nine of their last 10 games (8-1-1), and they return home after a 3-1-1 road trip out west.

They sit one point ahead of the Bruins, occupying the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 points.

Marco Sturm does not see it as a measuring-stick game, though.

“I’m not sure about measurement stick. I’m going for a Stanley Cup champion.

I do it every year; for me, they are our champions, so we got to bring our best,” Sturm said after practice. “For me, it’s not a measurement, it’s just more like I want to beat them.

Even the past years [has] been the same. Whoever wins the Cup, you try to play your best and show them what you got.”

Morgan Geekie started his NHL career with the Hurricanes. He was a third-round draft pick (No. 67) in 2017, won the Calder Cup with the Charlotte Checkers in 2019, and finished with 13 points (6-7–13) in 38 NHL games with the Hurricanes.

It’s far from his first time back in Raleigh, and maybe the faces are not all the same, but Geekie admitted there is still something different about facing the team that gave him his first NHL opportunity.

“It’s tough not to. I think when you first kind of move on, I think it’s a lot more prominent than it is maybe now,” Geekie said about playing his first NHL team.

“It’s still always that extra fire, and they got a great team, great organization. I honestly don’t know a ton of guys still there, but I have nothing but good, good things to say about Carolina and it was a good time in the career.

But, you know, definitely excited to be where I am now at this time.”

Geekie has one goal through the first 12 games, just one season after leading the Bruins with 39. Scoring droughts are nothing new for Geekie, who went through a few last season, but his shooting percentage and shots on goal are also down compared to last year.

Geekie has taken 12 shots and owns an 8.3% shooting percentage through 12 games this season. Through the same stretch last season, he had eight goals on 25 shots, good for a 32.0% shooting percentage.

“Every forward, every goal scorer needs to feel good. If you’re not scoring, then you get a little tight.

That’s absolutely normal. With him, just for example, the other night, he had some really good looks on the power play.

He just missed the net. Last year it went in,” Sturm said.

“So that’s the fine line, and that’s something you just need to continue to work on, and you got to work through it. That’s just part of being a goal scorer.

Last year, he had a little taste at the end. This year, again.

So I think he’s just learning how to deal with those kinds of stretches.”

Also Read:Bruins’ Morgan Geekie Looks to Regain Scoring Touch

Geekie, however, brushed off the slow start. Much like he said ahead of Thursday’s game against Nashville, the 28-year-old is focused on the results.

The Bruins did not run forward line rushes during Monday’s practice, but Sturm has kept those lines intact since Pavel Zacha returned from injury on Tuesday. The third line, consisting of Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and James Hagens, has been together for the entire eight-game point streak.

They have lined up against teams’ top lines, including San Jose’s on Saturday night.

In eight minutes against Celebrini’s line at 5-on-5, the third line outscored San Jose 2-0, outshot them 9-4, and outattempted them 16-6. The Bruins also held a 2.46-0.57 edge in expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.

It’s nothing new for Mittelstadt, who matched up with other teams’ top lines last season alongside Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson.

“Short training camp, I have to get to know the lines, the combinations, but also who can do what. I just had to find out too myself,” Sturm said.

“Sometimes I see things on the ice, and then I have the feel, ‘Okay, I think these guys can do it,’ and ‘some of the guys, they’re not ready yet.’”

“I feel like over the last long stretch, especially starting on that road trip, these guys can play against top guys, and they showed it again in the last two games, so it’s a good thing. I think Casey was in that spot last year.

Lindy [has] done it before. For James, it’s a challenge, but he likes it.

So far it’s been pretty good. So I’m happy that we found hopefully a line again who can do that.”

The Bruins have found stability with their forward lines, and there is a reason why Sturm has left them mostly intact throughout the point streak. However, Mikey Eyssimont has been making noise in Providence since being waived to make room for a healthy Matt Poitras.

Eyssimont, who made the Boston roster out of camp, is tied for the AHL lead with nine goals through his first six games.

“We recognize it as a coaching staff and also management. Mikey came in, and he had a great preseason.

Now he’s playing great again. Unfortunately, it was just a roster spot and all that kind of things happened, and unfortunately, he was the odd man out.

But I do believe he will get his chance again with one injury, and he’s right back at it. I’m just happy that he didn’t drop his head [about] playing in the minors.

No, he’s been a really good pro. Like I said, he came in ready to go this camp, and now he’s proving it.

So I’m very happy for him.”

The defensive pairings remained unchanged during Monday’s practice.

Marat Khusnutdinov – Fraser Minten – Morgan Geekie

Casey Mittelstadt – Elias Lindholm – James Hagens

*Forward lines are from Saturday

FOLLOW @JACKSTUDLEY13 ON 𝕏 | FOLLOW @BOSHockeyNow ON 𝕏