Top Moments of the 2019-20 Regular Season: No. 9

With the 2019-20 regular season officially over, Hurricanes.com is counting down the top 10 moments from the last year, presented by Storm Brew from our friends at R&D Brewing.

Previous Top Moments: 10. Ward Retires, Sounds Warning Siren

9. Morgan Geekie makes a splash in his first two NHL games

Morgan Geekie was thriving in early March - that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to prematurely shut down the remainder of its 2019-20 regular season.

"I feel bad for Geeks. He was on a roll," Jordan Staal said last week. "He's going to be a good player, I think, for a really long time."

March began with Geekie scoring his first professional hat trick in a four-point effort for the Charlotte Checkers, which then landed him American Hockey League player of the week status. A few days later, he earned his first call-up to the big club. He then boarded a flight from Charlotte bound for Pittsburgh, where he joined up with the Carolina Hurricanes, who had landed a few hours earlier after earning a momentum-shifting 3-2 overtime win on Long Island.

The next afternoon, on Sunday, March 8, Geekie made his NHL debut in Pittsburgh. And what a debut it was.

"It was kind of a whirlwind like that," Geekie said afterward. "Came to the rink, and the show happened."

Yes, yes it did.

Geekie netted two goals and added an assist in an eye-catching NHL debut with the Canes, who topped the Penguins, 6-2. He was effective in the circle, with two offensive zone faceoff wins directly leading to goals, and a pest around the net, where he scored both of his goals and helped along two others.

In a total 10:22 of ice time, the 21-year-old forward was a plus-3, tallied a hit and four blocked shots and finished with a 100% shooting percentage (two goals on two shots).

"He's got some grit to him. He knows how to play, and he's not afraid. I like that he had the courage to make plays. He wasn't just throwing pucks around," Video: CAR@PIT: Geekie collects three points in NHL debut. "It was an excellent contribution."

Video: CAR@PIT: Geekie collects three points in NHL debut

Geekie became just the second player in franchise history to score two goals in his first NHL game (Brad DeFauw, March 10, 2003) and the second player in franchise history to record three points in his first NHL game (Dan Bourbonnais, Dec. 30, 1981).

And he wasn't finished.

Two nights later in Detroit - what would end up being the Canes' final game in the shortened 2019-20 season - Geekie scored his third NHL goal on his third NHL shot, a simple wrist shot that opened the scoring in a game Video: CAR@PIT: Geekie collects three points in NHL debut.

"Easy league, huh?" Sebastian Aho Video: CAR@PIT: Geekie collects three points in NHL debut. "He's looking pretty good. It's great to see. He has confidence and is making plays."

Not a bad start for the kid.

"He's great, what he's doing. He knows how to play," Brind'Amour said. "He's got some skill. He can rip the puck. He plays with a little bit of passion and desire. That's what you need to have at this level."