“Maybe a little bit of opportunity. Just being able to seize it a little bit better, too and take advantage of that. Just kind of trusting myself more in those situations,” Geekie said of his goal-scoring growth. “It is easy to build confidence when you have confidence. I think over the last year, it’s slowly been building.”
The B’s displayed a new look to their top six on Friday, which featured Geekie on the second line with Steeves and Marat Khusnutdinov. The Czech trio of Matěj Blümel, Pavel Zacha and Pastrnak made up the first line.
“I think overall, it was just a better overall fit. We spread it out a little bit,” Sturm said. “I thought the Czech line was pretty good. The other guys were better, too. We just don’t want to put everything on one line and put the pressure on them all the time.”
The Kings found the 1-1 equalizer with a shorthanded goal from Joel Armia at 13:03, which forced overtime. Geekie’s ensuing tally sent the Bruins flooding onto the ice to celebrate the 2-1 win.
“[Geekie] worked even more this summer on his shot, on his release. Everything pays off. It’s been nice to see that hard work gets rewarded. I believe in that, and he’s one of them,” Sturm said. “The way we played today, it was really outstanding. One of the better games we’ve played.”
Beating the Kings carried a little extra meaning for Sturm, too, who spent seven years in the organization as both LA’s assistant coach and the head coach of its AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Friday was his first time back in the building as an NHL head coach.
“Anyone knows when you leave, you come back to your old stomping grounds, you want those two points badly,” Lindholm said. “I think we played our strong Bruins game tonight – kind of like the identity [Sturm] wants us to play. It was a perfect win that way.”
The Bruins are back in action on Sunday in San Jose for an 8 p.m. ET game against the Sharks at SAP Center.