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Overtime Relief: Geekie's Double Ends Bruins' Skid, Keeps Kings Searching

  Graphic by Genevive Oliver After two periods of tense, scoreless hockey, the Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings delivered a sudden explosion of action, culminating in an exhilarating overtime finish. The Bruins ultimately prevailed, defeating the Kings 2-1 after forward Morgan Geekie scored his 16th goal of the season at 2:27 of the extra frame. Geekie, who also notched the game’s opening goal in the third period (8:01), single-handedly drove the offense needed to snap Boston's challenging two-game losing streak. For the Los Angeles Kings, Joel Armia provided a moment of sheer late-game resilience, tying the score at 13:03 of the third period to force overtime and secure a vital point, despite the tough outcome that extended their overall losing streak to three games. Boston Bruins Lineup: Blumel - Zacha - Pastrnak Steeves - Khusnutdinov - Geekie Jeannot - Minten - Kastelic Tufte - Kuraly - Eyssimont Zadorov - Aspirot Lindholm - Jokiharju Lohrei - Peeke Swayman Korpisalo Los Ang...
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Two Wins Tucked Away: Mercer Powers Devils to Victory Ahead of Home Opener

 

Photo: Andrew MacLean






The New Jersey Devils survived a chaotic, late-game flurry in Columbus to secure their second straight victory on Monday night, defeating the Blue Jackets 3-2 to cap off their opening road trip. The star of the dramatic finish was forward Dawson Mercer, who netted a pair of goals—including the decisive empty-net marker—that momentarily gave the Devils a two-goal cushion before the Blue Jackets scored with 20 seconds left to keep the tension high until the final horn. Having collected four points out of a possible six on the road, New Jersey now turns its focus to the familiar roar of the Prudential Center crowd. The team finally heads home to Newark, where they will open their home slate on Thursday night with a pivotal early-season clash against the formidable Florida Panthers.

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Palat - Hughes - Bratt

Meier - Hischier - Mercer

Gritsyuk - Glass - Brown

Cotter - Glendening - Halonen


Hughes - Pesce

Siegenthaler - Hamilton

Dillon - Nemec


Allen

Markstrom


Columbus Blue Jackets Lineup:

Voronkov - Monahan - Marchenko

Jenner - Fantilli - Sillinger

Johnson - Coyle - Olivier

Aston-Reese - Lundestrom - Wood


Werenski - Fabbro

Provorov - Severson

Christiansen - Mateychuk


Greaves

Merzilkins


Timo Meier got the party started for New Jersey late in the opening frame with one second remaining on the power play at 4:13. He took a cross-ice pass from Jesper Bratt before it went through Jack Hughes' stick, scoring from the right circle.


At 11:11 of the second, Kirill Marchenko tied it up 1-1 when he stole the puck from Jack Hughes high in the Blue Jackets' end before driving through to New Jersey's end for a breakaway. Marchenko had a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Dawson Mercer put the Devils back in front 2-1 at 8:51 when he fired a one-timer past Jet Greaves on a 2-on-1 off a pass from Arseny Gritsyuk just nine seconds after Jake Allen saved a shot by Adam Fantilli on a 3-on-2.


With just seconds on the clock in the third period, Mercer struck to extend the lead to 3-1 on the empty Columbus net before Dmitri Voronkov stuffed one in past Jacob Markstrom for the 3-2 final.






Dawson Mercer on the win, taking penalties and special teams, and his first goal of the night: "It was great. Obviously, with the special teams, it was a good game overall. Five-on-five, I felt like we pushed the pace, and overall, we played a good game through the lineup. It's obviously great whenever you can get wins on the road." - "Fresh in the year, starting off these games, obviously, there's a lot tonight. We don't want to take as many as we do, but that happens, and I think we did a good job taking care of that... Just whenever that happens, it gives us momentum overall throughout the game, and I think we just built off that. ...Whenever you get a chance like that on an odd-man rush, just find a way to get open, and be ready if that puck comes. It was fluttering a bit, and I just made sure I had some contact on it, and I was happy to see it go in. So that was a great feeling."






Notes:

- Before he was replaced due to cramping, Jake Allen saved 23 of 24 shots through two periods for the Devils (2-1-0), including 16 in the first. Jacob Markstrom made eight saves in the third period.

- Both Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier scored on the power play for New Jersey, who entered the game 0-for-6 on the man-advantage.

- Timo Meier was named the second Switzerland-born player in NHL history to score at least 60 goals on a power play. Nashville Predators' Roman Josi has 65.

- Replacing Zack MacEwen on the fourth line for the Devils, Brian Halonen has two hits in 6:54 in his season debut since a recall from Utica of the AHL on Sunday.

- Jet Greaves made a total of 25 saves for Columbus in the home opener of their 25th anniversary season.

- The Blue Jackets, in their past two games, have allowed six power-play goals after giving up four in a 7-4 win in Minnesota on Saturday. Columbus went 0-for-5 on the power play and is 1-for-9 for the season.

- Kirill Marchenko currently has four goals in his past two games. He is the second player in Blue Jackets history to score four goals in the first three games of a season.

- After being high-sticked in the face by Dougie Hamilton in the first period, Miles Wood did not return for the remainder of the game. New Jersey killed off the double minor.

- In place of Erik Gudbranson, Jake Christiansen played 7:44 on Columbus's third defense pair. Gudbranson had sustained an upper-body injury against the Minnesota Wild.


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