The Bruins came up short at the NHL’s March 6 trade deadline, unable to finagle an offensive booster shot, particularly at the center spot. Rumors that St. Louis would deal Robert Thomas or the Rangers would part with Vincent Trocheck, both veteran pivots with some pop, dissipated in the hot air of the annual trade winds.

Three weeks later, help up front, particularly on the sagging power play, appears even more critical as the Bruins try to lock down one of the eight playoff seeds in the East.

The power play was stymied yet again (0 for 2) in Wednesday night’s 4-3 overtime win in Buffalo. The Bruins will take on the Cup-fit Wild here Saturday afternoon (5:08 puck drop) with a man-advantage that has delivered a paltry 3 for 28 (10.7 percent) the last nine games, while the penalty killing also has slumped, torched seven of 25 times.

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It takes more than one guy to revive a PP, but they desperately need Morgan Geekie, their biggest goal producer on the advantage all season, to get his stick going. Geekie, the hardest shooter in the lineup, has gone 11 straight games without a goal, dating back to his last strike on the power play March 5 — the night before the trade deadline.

Geekie has a career-high 12 goals on the advantage after accumulating 11 in his career prior to this season. He’s now riding third-line right wing, with a demoted Elias Lindholm his set-up guy at center and makeover project Lukas Reichel on left wing.

Which is to say, “Geeks” has seen better days. Particularly, lining up at left wing with David Pastrnak (1-2—3 in Buffalo) to his far right.

“Listen, he’s a forward,” coach Marco Sturm said prior to faceoff in Buffalo when asked if he sensed frustration in Geekie’s game. “He’s a goal scorer now and goal scorers need goals.”

Sturm said he has seen some positive signs of late in Geekie’s overall game. He believes he has been harder on pucks and increased his compete level.

“He kind of went away from that a little bit. I feel like the last few games he got it back a little bit,” said Sturm. ”The goals will come. It’s almost like he has to go through it and learn from those kind of moments, too. But again, a goal scorer needs a goal. I feel like that woud help his confidence for sure.”

Highly-touted prospect James Hagens — a potential candidate to be that offensive booster shot — made a solid pro debut Wednesday night in AHL Providence’s 2-1 win at Springfield.

The 19-year-old Hagens, chosen No. 7 in last June’s entry draft out of Boston College, played left wing and landed three shots on net. He lined up, as expected, on a trio with Patrick Brown and Matej Blumel, and did not factor in either of the goals.

Often referred to as the Iron League for its accent on physical play over skill, the AHL offers Hagens a potential path to the Boston varsity with 10 games to go in the regular season. He first would have to sign his NHL entry-level contract, mirroring the path Charlie McAvoy took in the spring of ‘17 when the budding blue liner played four games at Providence upon leaving BU as a sophomore.

The WannaB’s return to the ice Saturday (7 p.m.) in Providence vs. Bridgeport and entertain Springfield in a 3 p.m. rematch on Sunday.

Viktor Arvidsson, raked over by fellow Swede Rasmus Dahlin in the opening seconds Wednesday night, later scored his 20th goal of the season. About to turn 33 on April 8, it’s the sixth time “Arvy” has reached the 20-goal plateau, in what has been an outstanding rebound season after he got lost in the shuffle (15-12—27) in 67 games last season with the Oil . . . The irascible Dahlin, by the way, submitted a minus-3, equalling his worst this season. Only five NHL defensemen have produced more than his 425 points since he entered the league as an 18-year-old in 2018-19, and none of those five matches Dahlin’s irritant level — a blend of fellow Swedes Borje Salming and Ulf Samuelsson . . . The five blue liners to outproduce Dahlin: Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Quinn Hughes, Victor Hedman, and John Carlson. Dahlin and Carlson are the only two in that bunch not to be named the Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman . . . Look for Jeremy Swayman to take the net vs. the Wild, then Joonas Korpisalo to face his former Blue Jackets, on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.