With one victory secured to open a five-game homestand that leads into the NHL’s holiday break, the Boston Bruins get ready for another Western Conference test as they welcome the surging Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
The Bruins earned a 4-1 victory Tuesday over the Utah Mammoth in their return from a three-game road trip.
After Morgan Geekie scored the tying and go-ahead goals to erase Utah’s early 1-0 lead, a two-goal third period led Boston into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division standings with its fifth win in the last six games and fourth straight at home.
“It’s not easy with all the travel, coming back,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “It felt different in the first period, even for me, being home again. The players, I think, felt the same way, but they know, ‘OK, we’ve got to get better.’ That’s exactly what they showed in the second and third.”
With Jeremy Swayman (20 saves) in goal, Boston allowed Utah to take just eight shots after the first period and pitched a shutout in the third. Casey Mittelstadt and Mikey Eyssimont scored insurance goals in the third to put the game away.
“I think we’ve really found an identity,” Mittelstadt said. “Marco’s come in firm and strong on that. I think the way he wants to play fits the personnel we have as well.”
Geekie is coming off another big night, registering his fifth two-goal game of the season. His 24 goals remain second in the NHL to the 28 from Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
“Fun to see him get better every day, and he’s been proving it the whole year this year,” Pastrnak said of Geekie.
The Bruins claimed defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok off waivers from the Dallas Stars prior to Tuesday’s game and he joined his new team for the first time for practice on Wednesday afternoon. Jonathan Aspirot (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.
Edmonton, which is 5-1-1 since Dec. 4, comes to Boston for the fourth game of a five-game trip following a 6-4 road win Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Connor McDavid (two goals, two assists) and Leon Draisaitl (four assists) each were productive against former teammate Stuart Skinner, who was traded to Pittsburgh last week in a deal that moved fellow goaltender Tristan Jarry to Edmonton.
Tuesday was a history-making night for Draisaitl, who joined McDavid in reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career. He is the first German-born player and the fifth-fastest player born outside of North America to hit that milestone.
“Regular-season success, playoff success, he’s such a big-time player scoring big-time goals,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He gets a lot of attention for a lot of things — goal scoring and play making, but I don’t think he gets enough credit for his defensive play. A really remarkable player.”
McDavid has delivered nine goals and 11 assists across a seven-game point streak and is the reigning NHL First Star of the Week.
“He’s been dominant,” Draisaitl said of McDavid. “He has stretches like that every season where he seems unstoppable. So hopefully, he can carry this on for a while.”
The duo led the Oilers to a 3-of-4 showing on the power play against Pittsburgh, marking the team’s second time scoring more than two man-advantage goals in seven games.
Zach Hyman (four-game goal streak) and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist, while Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie also scored.
–Field Level Media
