Geekie scores twice as Canes roll past Nashville Predators 5-1 for 7th win in a row
Vincent Trocheck was not able to play for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said that would be a “big blow.”
With Trocheck out and injured, Morgan Geekie came off the taxi squad. He was listed as the fourth-line center in his 10th game of the season and his first since Feb. 11. .
And Geekie then played, well, like Trocheck, scoring twice on the power play as the Canes rolled past the Nashville Predators 5-1 at PNC Arena for their seventh straight victory.
The Canes (19-6-1) now have surged into first place in the Central Division with 39 points, one point ahead of Tampa Bay and Florida. Tampa Bay was beaten 6-4 in Detroit by the Red Wings on Thursday.
With Trocheck out, Brind’Amour moved Martin Necas to the first power-play unit and had Geekie on the second unit. Geekie then scored a first-period power play, deflecting a Jake Bean shot in the slot much like Trocheck often has this season.
In the second period, Geekie scored again just as a Canes power play ended, again off a Bean pass, his shot hitting Preds goalie Pekka Rinne, bouncing off defenseman Mattias Elkholm and past Rinne. Just like that he had his second goal of the season and the Canes a 4-0 lead.
“It’s huge,” Brind’Amour said. “You obviously don’t expect that type of performance, but obviously we needed it. We’re going to need it moving forward with the injuries we’ve got.”
Trocheck leads the Canes with 13 goals. The Canes also are without forward Teuvo Teravainen, who continues to try and fully recover from a concussion.
But the Predators (11-15-1) have their own injury problems. They were undone by Canes’ first-period scoring binge -- Geekie, Brock McGinn and Dougie Hamilton scored in a span of 2:21 -- and the goaltending of the Canes’ James Reimer, who made 15 of his 32 saves in the opening period in picking up his 12th win of the season and 170th of his career.
Reimer’s bid for his first shutout of the season ended on Nick Cousins’ goal with 4:32 remaining in the third.
“They’re missing a few guys, too,” Reimer said of the Preds. “That kind of seems like the story this year. There’s going to be adversity. You’re going to be missing key players. It’s a matter of who wants it more or who wants to play their game better.”
Geekie wanted it. Ineffective when used early in the season, he was assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League on Feb. 19. He responded with four goals and an assist in two games and was named the AHL player of the week, earning an immediate recall to the Canes.
And then sat. Practiced, but sat. And watched and waited.
“I know exactly how he was feeling,” said Bean, who has been in and out of the lineup. “He’s a very mature guy. He took it really well.”
Not that it easy.
“Obviously some days are better than others,” Geekie said. “The organization has been great, my teammates have been great. It’s good to watch some games ... and get a different point of view kind of thing. You can see a bit more, slow it down.”
When Trocheck couldn’t go Thursday, Geekie was ready. In addition to his two-goal game, he won 12 of 15 draws in being named the game’s first star.
The Canes, 10-1-1 at home this season, checked nearly all the boxes this night. They had three power-play goals -- Necas scored in the third -- and have 12 in their seven-game win streak. It’s the first time since the 2008-09 season they’ve had power-play goals in seven consecutive games.
The Canes killed off their lone penalty. Bean and Andrei Svechnikov each had two assists. Reimer did the job in net.
The Canes also found time to salute defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forward Cedric Paquette as both played their 400th career NHL games.
It’s part of Brind’Amour’s job to worry about the injuries and missed games. But the Canes were too good and played through it Thursday.
“You’d like to have your full group but not many teams in the league do right now,” he said. “You’re going to have to have depth to be successful this year.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 6:26 PM.
