Zacha, McAvoy will sit out
After opening Saturday’s matinee against the Coyotes on the fourth line, Morgan Geekie is set to skate alongside David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk Wednesday night against the Devils in Newark.
An in-game, top-six promotion for Geekie against Arizona will carry over, with coach Jim Montgomery announcing on Tuesday that Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy have not been cleared to play.
“They’re not game-ready for tomorrow,” Montgomery said. “We’ll see after that. Day by day again.”
Zacha missed the final two periods of Saturday’s 5-3 win because of an upper-body injury. McAvoy is set to sit out his second straight game since taking a hit up high from the Sabres’ JJ Peterka on Thursday night.
Mason Lohrei and Ian Mitchell will slot in along the blue line to account for the absences of McAvoy and Derek Forbort, who remains on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
As the man in the middle of a line featuring Pastrnak and DeBrusk, Geekie will look to build his game around a duo with plenty of firepower.
“Any time you get to play with players of their caliber, it’s something special,” Geekie said. “I’m just trying to go out there and kind of give them the puck in the right spots, and we all know what [Pastrnak] can do with it. So yeah, just try to get open, make space for him, and create some plays.”
Geekie made the most of his increased ice time against the Coyotes, logging 17:31, his secondhighest workload of the season, and recording the primary assist on Pastrnak’s second goal of the afternoon after driving to the net and hitting the star winger with a slick backhand feed.
During Geekie’s 7:42 of five-on-five ice time with Pastrnak on Saturday, the Bruins had an 11-3 edge in shot attempts, outshot the Coyotes, 6-2, and outscored them, 1-0.
“He’s a big horse that can occupy the middle of the ice, drive the net,” Montgomery said of Geekie. “He wins battles, not only one-on-one battles, but he wins battles against two people because of his strength and his tenacity on pucks. We’re looking for people to seize the opportunities that are presented for them.”
Need for speed
The Devils established themselves as a burgeoning juggernaut in 2022-23, with a high-octane offense elevated by star center Jack Hughes.
A mix of injuries and defensive woes have hampered the Devils (14-11-1) this season.
As the Devils try to regain their footing in the Metropolitan Division, a Bruins defense prone to coughing up chances on the rush makes for an appealing matchup.
“Just the speed and transition,” Montgomery said when asked about the Devils’ strengths. “We have to do everything a second quicker so that we have the numbers we want in the right areas, which is at our goal lines for our forecheck and for our breakouts, and then also just getting above them.
“We haven’t done a great job of staying above people consistently, given up too many odd-man rushes on the year as it is. So it’s going to be a great test to see if our transition to defense in particular is where it needs to be.”
Boqvist recalled
With Zacha on the mend, Jesper Boqvist was recalled from AHL Providence. The 25-year-old forward has posted five goals and nine assists in 24 games for the P-Bruins this year.
“There’s a lot of players playing well right now down in Providence,” Montgomery said of the decision to choose Boqvist. “A little bit is how well he’s playing. And also it’s New Jersey, and it’s where he played. I always find guys dig in and want to show the other team why they could have kept them.”
Even though Boqvist could have extra motivation skating against his former team, Montgomery said a decision has not been made about whether the call-up will slot into the lineup.
Montgomery opted not to share which goalie will start Wednesday night, but added that Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman are both healthy and available. Swayman has not played since
Dec. 3, missing some time because of an illness.