Bruins gain a point but drop OT decision to Hurricanes, 6-5

The Bruins managed to pull one point out of the fire against the top team in the Eastern Conference but they could not close the deal for the second one in a highly entertaining game on Tuesday in Carolina.

The B’s erased a two-goal deficit to tie the Carolina Hurricanes and pick up that valuable point but never touched the puck in overtime and lost 6-5 at the Lenovo Center.

Morgan Geekie obliterated his 17-game goal-less streak with a hat trick and Joonas Korpisalo (16 saves) was brilliant in relief of a subpar Jeremy Swayman in a result they had to be reasonably happy with, despite the many warts in their game.

The B’s entered the third period down 5-4, but tied it with 7:25 left in the third. Charlie McAvoy took the puck down low and fed Pavel Zacha for his 30th of the year. It was also McAvoy’s 60th point of the season

Korpisalo, meanwhile, gave the B’s a chance. He stopped everything he’d seen deep into the third period, with his best stop coming on a backdoor play for Sebastian Aho with 4:30 left in the third.

The B’s got a power play with 3:16 left in the third but, in need of at least a point, they played it very conservatively and didn’t cash in but they got it into OT.

In the extra session, Jordan Staal beat Elias Lindholm on the opening faceoff and the Hurricanes went to work. With 1:13 gone, Aho found Jaccob Slavin for a tap-in and his first goal of the season.

This was a wild one.

There were times in the first period that the B’s had plenty of trouble with the Canes’ speed, but they were able to score the first goal of the period, fall behind and then head into the first intermission with a one-goal advantage.

While Carolina had buzzed the B’s in the opening minutes, the B’s scored on their first shot of the game. Pavel Zacha retrieved a puck behind the Carolina net and slid a soft puck out into the high slot. Hampus Lindholm skated into it but, instead of ripping it immediately, he moved to his left and sneaked a wrist shot through goalie Brandon Bussi at 4:40, the defenseman’s fifth of the year.

The Canes took the lead in a span of 1:38.

First, Andrei Svechnikov scored on a wraparound on bad luck for Swayman after it appeared the puck fell off Svechnikov’s blade, bounced off Jonathan Aspirot’s skate and in the shortside.

Then, after Jordan Staal beat Elias Lindholm cleanly in the defensive zone, K’Andre Miller beat Swayman on a long screen shot.

But then Geekie’s stick, so valuable for this team for most of the season, was resurrected. Geekie’s skid had started to infect all areas of his game, but he finally broke out of it at 13:36.

First, he made a good defensive play in his own zone to stop a Carolina attack and sent the play the other way. David Pastrnak had open ice in front of him on the left side but was forced behind his net. He came out on the other side and fed Geekie, who was able to beat Bussi with a quick, hard shot from from just below the right circle.

Then Pastrnak set up Geekie for his second (36) at 17:25. Pastrnak turned defenseman Jalen Chatfield inside out and left him behind in the corner, making a move to the net and tight quarters. As he was about to make contact with Bussi, Pastrnak dished it to Geekie for the 3-2 lead.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour called a timeout to mull over challenging for goalie interference and then did so. No dice.

That gave the B’s the first power play of the game but they could not capitalize.

The Canes started the second on the PP thanks to a goalie interference call on Mark Kastelic (and a pretty egregious dive by Bussi).

They killed that one, but Nikita Zadorov’s slashing penalty a few minutes later. The B’s had a chance to clear the puck when Kastelic pulled a puck out of danger on the slot but lost the puck before he could completely wheel around and fire it out of the zone. A couple of passes later and Logan Stankoven’s shot from the left side found the back of the net at 5:17.

That was the first of three goals in 3:16 for Carolina.

At 7:20, the Canes had their lead back. With Carolina winning the puck battles down low, Jordan Martinook knocked the puck off Geekie’s stick, fed William Carrier for a goal on which the B’s needed a stop.

Taylor Hall gave the Canes a two-goal bulge 1:13 later when his blocked shot came right back to him and he beat Swayman.

Marco Sturm gave Swayman the hook in favor of Joonas Korpisalo after that. The B’s were not playing well in front of him, but Swayman didn’t pick them, either.

Korpisalo stopped the bleeding and the B’s got one back with 1:10 left in the period on Geekie’s hat trick goal. It was an excellent shift by the top line, a rare one on which they won battles and races. Zadorov took advantage of some legal interference from McAvoy and fired a puck on net that Geekie deflected home.

There was still more drama left in the second. Zadorov crushed Seth Jarvis, who had tried an highly unsuccessful reverse, on a brutal but clean check that took Jarvis a while to shake off. Carolina tough guy Nic Deslauriers jawed at Zadorov on the bench and appeared to be asking for a date at a later time in the game.

The Canes would start the third on another PP when McAvoy took a crosscheck with 38 seconds left in the period.