After snapping their two-game losing skid with a Halloween treat, the Boston Bruins look for seconds in the win column when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night.
Boston can carry momentum from overcoming a two-goal deficit midway through the third period to earn a 5-4 overtime win Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, but coach Marco Sturm still wants to see his team play better.
The Bruins (10-4-1, 21 points), who were coming off back-to-back road losses to the Carolina Hurricanes and St. Louis Blues, had only nine shots on goal halfway through the game, were outshot 41-32 in total, and never played with a lead on Saturday before Elias Lindholm netted the winner.
“Take the points, right? I know we didn’t play our best, but I’ll take the points,” Sturm said. “It’s almost like we want to carry the puck into the net. I thought we learned some lessons in Carolina. St. Louis was a little bit better, but still it was not there again (Saturday).”
Mason Lohrei and Morgan Geekie scored in the third period to force overtime and set up Lindholm’s heroics. Michael DiPietro, who has been outstanding as the backup to Jeremy Swayman, got the win in net. The goaltending duo ranks fourth in the league with a 2.33 combined goals-against average.
Geekie’s game-tying tally with 12 seconds left in regulation was his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 8 after scoring a career-high 39 goals in 2025-26.
The Bruins have survived Geekie’s cold spell with a balanced attack. Seventeen players have scored a goal and five have five or more, with Lindholm joining the latter group on Saturday.
“(Lindholm has) been unbelievable. I know a lot of people rip on him for the last couple years, but he brings his all every night. You see it up and down the ice. He’s a 200-foot player. I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good he is,” Geekie said.
The Golden Knights (9-5-1, 19 points) were one of the best teams in the Western Conference in October, though a recent 1-3-1 streak has followed their 8-2-0 start.
A 5-2 home defeat Friday against the New Jersey Devils looked no different to coach Ryan Craig after the fact than it did live, as his team was outshot 32-21 and its 2-1 lead late in the first period did not last despite solid goaltending from Adin Hill (27 saves).
“My comments (from Friday) on needing to manage the puck better and check better, I think showed up on the tape,” Craig said following a Saturday video session and practice before traveling east.
Vegas has scored more than two goals just once in its last five games. The Golden Knights defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 last Tuesday.
“Sometimes things happen like this in a long season,” said forward Marc Gatcomb, a Massachusetts native. “We know we haven’t been at our best, but we just got to stick to what was working and get back to that.”
One bright spot for Vegas on Friday was the penalty kill. It was 2-for-2 against New Jersey, breaking a streak of six games allowing a power-play goal. The unit is at 69.4% after ranking seventh in the NHL last season.
While Craig expects defenseman Dylan Coghlan to slot in for Ville Heinola, forward Victor Olofsson is closer to returning from an upper-body injury that has sidelined him since Oct. 6. Olofsson will join the team on its road trip after skating in a non-contact jersey on Saturday alongside linemates Trevor Connelly and Tomas Hertl.
–Field Level Media
