Bruins Hit the Road to Face Hurricanes, Geekie's Old Club

The Boston Bruins open a two-game road trip Tuesday at Lenovo Center against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN. Boston then visits St. Louis on Thursday.

The matchup pairs division leaders: Boston (9-2-1) tops the Atlantic and Carolina (9-2-2) leads the Metropolitan. The Bruins have collected points in eight straight games, winning seven, most recently a 6-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

"Just for me, they are champions, so we've got to bring our best," head coach Marco Sturm said. "For me, it's not a measuring stick. It is more like, 'I want to beat them,' right?"

For Morgan Geekie, it is a return to where his pro career started. Carolina took him in the third round in 2017. The 28-year-old forward won the Calder Cup with the Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19 and played 38 games with the Hurricanes before Seattle claimed him in the July 2021 expansion draft.

"I think when you first move on, it's a lot more prominent than it is maybe now. It's still always that extra fire," Geekie said. "I have nothing but good things to say about Carolina."

Geekie led Boston with 39 goals last season. He now skates on the second line with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov, a combination Sturm put together just under a week ago, and has nine points through 12 games.

"They're the defending champs for a reason, so we know we're going to have our hands full," Geekie said. "But I think we've been playing great hockey."