Geekie scores twice and Bruins open 5-game homestand with 4-1 victory over Mammoth

BOSTON (AP) — Morgan Geekie scored a pair of goals and Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots on Tuesday night to help the Boston Bruins beat Utah 4-1 for their fifth win in their last six games.

Casey Mittelstadt and Michael Eyssimont also scored goals, and David Pastrnak had a pair of assists as the Bruins returned from a three-game road trip to open a five-game homestand with a victory.

Barrett Hayton scored for the Mammoth, and Vitek Vanecek made 19 saves.

It was the first game back on the TD Garden ice for Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who missed almost a month after taking a puck to the face and having surgery. McAvoy has worn a face shield since returning on Thursday at Winnipeg.

Hayton was to Swayman’s right when he flipped a pass from Sean Durzi past the goalie on a power play to make it 1-0 midway through the first period. Boston tied it with four minutes left in the first when the Bruins earned a man advantage and Pastrnak zipped the puck across the ice to Geekie, catching Vanecek out of position.

Just 23 seconds into the second period, Pastrnak skated out toward the blue line, then spun and wristed it toward Vanecek, who was screened by Geekie. The puck bounced off the goalie in front and Geekie swept it around into the net to make it 2-1.

It stayed that way until the midpoint of the third when Mittelstadt crossed the puck to Pavel Zacha, whose shot went off the boards behind the net and bounced to the other side for Mittelstadt to slam it in. Eyssimont got behind the defense with four minutes left to make it 4-1.

Up next

Mammoth visit Detroit on Wednesday night.

Bruins host Edmonton on Thursday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL