The first game without Mikko Rantanen ended with an L.
The Colorado Avalanche appeared to be the superior club Saturday afternoon at TD Garden, but the Boston Bruins refused to go down without a fight. Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak, in particular, led the charge.
Colorado entered the third period with a 1-0 lead, but it only took 4:19 of the third for the game to be turned upside down. Geekie supplied the equalizer just 25 seconds into the final period and after killing off a penalty, Geekie scored again to give Boston the lead. Game. Set. Match. The Bruins held on to defeat the Avalanche 2-1.
It was Boston’s 10th win in their last 12 contests despite getting outshot 28-14, but the latter made the most of their opportunities.
Jeremy Swayman was stellar between the pipes for the Bruins as he stopped 27 of 28 shots. Scott Wedgewood allowed two goals on 14 shots. Martin Nečas, the 12th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, also had a pair of shots on goal in his Avalanche debut. He was acquired as part of the Rantanen trade on Friday, when Colorado parted ways with their perennial star player in a three-team deal, shipping him off to Carolina in an exchange that also included a second-round pick in this year’s draft and a fourth-rounder in 2026.
After a scoreless and competitive opening period, the Avalanche lit up the board.
Second Period
It was a Finnish sandwich that broke the ice early in the second frame. Artturi Lehkonen scored his 19th tally of the season to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. The play was formulated when Juusso Parssinen drove the puck across the blue line and fed Lehkonen a deft backhand pass before Lehkonen rang a wrister off the right post and in for a sweet goal.
Third Period
Boston’s Morgan Geekie scored two goals in 4:19 to give his team a 2-1 advantage. Geekie scored just 25 seconds into the final period when he one-timed a pass from David Pastrňák from the high slot. The marker was Geekie’s sixth goal of the month.
Approximately five minutes later, Pastrňák set up Geekie’s seventh goal of the month when he found his wingman unguarded on the doorstep after he slithered around Devon Toews, who looked towards the ceiling in frustration after the score.
Time was called with 8:58 left in regulation after Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was struck in the face by the puck and immediately went to the locker room for repairs covering the damage with a towel.
With 2:25 remaining, Colorado pulled Wedgewood for the extra attacker and fought tooth and nail, but it was all for naught when Pastrňák added his 11th goal of January via the empty-netter to finish it off.
Takeaways
This loss looks bad when you consider that the team traded their top goal scorer on Friday, but that’s a short-term way to look at it. Unfortunately, the Avalanche had no choice but to trade Rantanen. The team couldn’t afford his $14 million salary demand, and it didn’t appear that Rantanen was willing to budge. It’s sad, indeed. But in reality, it made more sense to trade him now for assets than to risk losing him for nothing in the offseason, which likely would have happened anyway.
The offense generated a lot of scoring chances and just couldn’t find the back of the net. Swayman played a great game, but the Avs’ power play did come up empty on all of their opportunities tonight, which has been an issue throughout the season. Furthermore, some costly mistakes in our own zone didn’t help, either.
Upcoming
The Avalanche continue their road trip against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday at 11 a.m. local time.