Morgan Geekie didn’t mince words earlier this week when asked about the state of the Bruins after a sixth-straight loss on Thursday night. 

“It’s just embarrassing, to the fans, to everybody,” the 27-year-old forward said after Boston fell to the Ducks, 7-5. “It’s just poor. Everything is poor.”

Little had seemingly gone right for the Bruins over their extended slide — be it their leaky defensive-zone coverage, knack for coughing up goals after lighting the lamp, and struggles in crunch time. 

In search of a breakthrough, Marco Sturm and his staff dialed up an extended video session combing over Boston’s defensive miscues on Friday at Warrior Ice Arena — followed up by a lengthy practice close to 45 minutes after they were first scheduled to hit the ice. 

But to snap their losing streak and outlast a skilled opponent like the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins were going to need more than just tighten up their defensive system to come away with points. 

As Boston attempts to staple down Sturm’s defensive preachings, what the Bruins can control on every shift is effort and pace — regardless of their opponent. 

And on Saturday, Geekie led by example to help Boston secure its first win in two weeks.

In the closing seconds of the second period — and with Boston clinging to a 2-1 lead — Geekie beat out an icing after Pastrnak chipped a puck down the ice toward Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood. 

By the time Geekie corralled the puck at the end boards, there was just 6.7 seconds left in the period. 

Pressed for time and unable to put a puck on net, Geekie instead pounced as Wedgewood shifted to his left — tucking a puck past the netminder with a quick bid from the inside post to give Boston a 3-1 lead with just 4.5 seconds left on the clock.

Geekie’s sneaky shot and his willingness to play to the whistle gave Boston a two-goal cushion going into the final 20 minutes of play — and served as the Bruins’ game-winning goal en route to a much-needed 3-2 victory over Colorado. 

“Yeah, my dad would be proud of that one, probably,” Geekie said of playing to the final seconds of the period. “It was maybe the perfect storm. I mean, that’s not going to happen every time. But when you get those opportunities to get in behind the D like that, I’m just trying to get it on net as fast as I can.” 

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Given both the skill present on Colorado’s roster and Boston’s struggles with manufacturing some breathing room while holding leads as of late, Sturm believed that Geekie’s last-second goal shifted the fortunes of a Bruins team (4-6) that was in desperate need of a break to go their way. 

“I thought that was the biggest goal today, probably besides the first goal [from Viktor Arvidsson]. But going into the [third] period with a two-goal lead, I think that was huge for us,” Sturm said. “But again, there was only a few seconds left, but it started with almost like a breakout. We know they’re going to pinch hard and Geeks was pushing the pace.” 

The Bruins aren’t expecting Geekie to go 0-to-60 down the ice in the same vein as Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, or Martin Necas. 

But Geekie’s motor, willingness to engage down low, and knack for pepping the net made him the type of player that Boston wanted to invest in after a breakout 33-goal campaign in 2024-25. 

Fresh off of inking a six-year, $33 million contract extension in late June, Geekie has done little to stoke fears that his scoring surge last winter was an outlier.

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Through 10 games, Geekie has now found the back of the net six times, and he’s currently on a 49-goal pace across an 82-game season. 

“I think it’s just a great example of playing ’til the last whistle,” Jeremy Swayman said of Geekie’s goal. “It’s hard to do. We had a lot of games in a short amount of time, and he’s a player that doesn’t give up on any play, so it’s really good to see him get success.

“There’s no wonder why he has so much success early on. It’s a sneaky little shot, and I gave him a little kudos for it. But it’s exactly what we want as this team, as a culture.” Geekie’s tally wasn’t the lone factor that helped Boston get off the schneid. 

A strong showing in net from Swayman (31 saves) helped negate some of the quality chances that the Avalanche managed to generate, while a committed defensive approach from Sturm’s skaters — headlined by 34 total blocks — snuffed out some of Colorado’s firepower. 

It’s a formula that the Bruins will need to continue to rely on if they plan on putting their extended losing streak in the rearview mirror. 

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“I spoke a lot about just the character of the guys we had, and I think we came in yesterday and had a long video session and a lot of teaching and cleaned up a lot of those things today,” Geekie said of Boston’s response. “Obviously, there’s still room for improvement, and we’re not going to stop at one. But it’s a good step in the right direction. It’s really easy to build off a game like today.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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Harvard University briefly implemented a shelter-in-place order Friday morning while police searched for a suspect on a bicycle who allegedly shot at another person in Cambridge.

“Cambridge Police are currently on-scene of a shots fired incident that took place on Sherman Street in the vicinity of Danehy Park,” a spokesman for Cambridge police told Boston.com via email. “Ballistic evidence has been recovered.”

There aren’t any known victims or concerns about public safety risk at this time, the spokesman confirmed.

Harvard issued multiple emergency alerts to the community before noon, warning that university and Cambridge police were searching for the suspect near the Radcliffe Quad.

By noon, the university had lifted the shelter in place.

“Please continue to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the HUPD at 617-495-1212,” a Harvard alert noted.

This is a developing story, which will be updated as more information becomes available. Harvard updates emergency situations on campus on its emergency alerts page.

A man accused of abusing a dog in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood over the summer has a history of mental health and other health issues, his attorney said.

Akeem Pierre was arraigned Thursday in Dorchester District Court on animal cruelty charges, where he pleaded not guilty.

Video allegedly shows dog being abused

Back in June, Assistant District Attorney Nadia Eldemery said Pierre was seen walking a dog named Pluto in Dorchester. A witness told police they saw Pierre whip Pluto with the leash several times on the face and body, along with yelling at the dog and threatening him. The witness, who filmed the incident, also said Pierre lifted Pluto up off the ground by the leash and tugged him down the street. The dog allegedly seemed hesitant to walk with Pierre and appeared anxious.

Eldemery said the witness filmed the incident and sent the video to the MSPCA and police. The video was also posted on social media.

When police spoke with Pierre, he told them he was pet-sitting Pluto and “training” him by tapping him on the nose whenever he did something deemed inappropriate. Police said Pierre did not dispute or deny what he did in the video and did not show any remorse.

Suspect has mental health issues, attorney says

Pierre’s defense, attorney Elizabeth Pardy, said he has a long history of medical and mental health issues, which is why he was also in default on an OUI case from 2021. She said he’s bipolar, schizophrenic and has sickle cell anemia, along with other issues. She said he underwent a competency evaluation and the doctor determined that he’s not competent to stand trial.

Judge Thomas Kaplanes released Pierre on his own recognizance, despite the prosecution requesting $2,000 bail. He was ordered to have no interaction with Pluto, surrender any animals in his custody, report to probation weekly and remain drug and alcohol free. The judge also ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Pluto was taken to a veterinarian and was found to have no injuries. He was then brought to the MSPCA, who confirmed that he’s been adopted and is doing well.

“We’re grateful to the public for bringing this to our attention, which allowed our officers to quickly start a swift investigation that brought Pluto safely into our care and also secured charges, which are now pending before the courts,” said the MSPCA in a statement.