After beginning their four-game road trip with a pair of losses in the state of Florida, the Boston Bruins were able to salvage the trip with a pair of loser points. That's right, loser points at this time of the year are huge. After rallying in the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, they did the same against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Trailing 5-4 entering the third period Tuesday night in Raleigh, Pavel Zacha scored his 30th goal of the season late in the third period to salvage the regulation tie and a huge point. Here are four takeaways from a game that had some good, bad, and ugly.
Morgan Geekie found his goal-scoring touch
Well, if there was anything to take away from the game, it's that Morgan Geekie broke his 17-game goal-scoring drought. What a time for it to happen. He tied the game with his first goal of the game in the first at 2-2, then he gave the Black and Gold the lead, 3-2, at the end of the first period with his second against former Bruins prospect Brandon Bussi.
The Geek Squad strikes 🤓 pic.twitter.com/ZmEiY5BhCq
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 7, 2026
After Carolina blitzed the Bruins in the second period with three goals, Geekie gave the Bruins a glimmer of hope when he redirected a Nikita Zadorov shot by Bussi. It was good for Geekie to see the puck go into the net not once, but three times. Just maybe that gets him going.
Bruins completely outclassed in the second period
This was not a 20-minute period that Marco Sturm will show many people. To say that the Black and Gold were outclassed would be an understatement. They started the period shorthanded, killed the penalty, but a Zadorov penalty led to a Hurricanes power play goal. Mark Kastelic had a chance to clear the puck 200 feet, but couldn't get it out.
Then Geekie, for all the good he did scoring, had a brutal turnover that led to a go-ahead goal before former Bruin Taylor Hall ended the three-minute onslaught. Sturm pulled Swayman in favor of Joonas Korpisalo, and he kept them in the game with some huge saves and gave them a chance to grab a point with a third-period rally.
Thank goodness this trip is over
What a rollercoaster ride the last two weeks have been. They beat four teams that you didn't see coming, then went winless on the trip and gave away games against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. You could make the case that they gave away the game in Philadelphia against the Flyers with the overtime penalties.
One win on this trip and one more loser point, and the feeling might be different and not like the sky is falling. The Bruins are not built to come back from many deficits, and they are best when playing ahead. This was a disappointing trip given what was at stake.
Playoff race is going to get sweaty
The analytics might say that the Bruins are close to a lock for the playoffs, but their play on the ice says otherwise. While they have a decent cushion, everybody chasing them has games in hand. To compound matters, the Bruins' next two games are at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning and at the Columbus Blue Jackets on a back-to-back. It may seem like a given, but it isn't. They need to find points somewhere over the weekend to solidify their spot.