Morgan Geekie gave Marco Sturm’s Bruins a boost Tuesday, but Boston still left Carolina with a painful 6-5 overtime loss after another collapse.

That is what makes this one sting.

The Bruins showed real life, real push, and enough offense to steal a tough road game.

But they still could not close it, and that has been the problem hanging over this team during a rough stretch away from home.

Geekie was the headline on Boston's side.

He scored three times, giving the Bruins one of their best individual performances of the trip, and Pavel Zacha added another big moment by hitting the 30-goal mark.

Hampus Lindholm also chipped in as Boston kept finding ways to crawl back.

But the middle of the game put them in too deep a hole.

Carolina flipped the script with a quick burst in the second period, and Jeremy Swayman's night ended early after five goals against.

Joonas Korpisalo came in and steadied things, which at least gave Boston a chance to keep swinging.

Boston earned a point, but not much peace

That is the hard part here.

The Bruins did battle back in the third, and the push showed something.

They did not fold in a loud building against a top team. But when Jaccob Slavin ended it early in overtime, the comeback energy lost a lot of its shine.

Still, Boston is not leaving this game empty.

Geekie's finish was a major positive. Zacha kept producing. David Pastrnak moved to 99 points.

And the club at least grabbed one point instead of none.

Boston sits at 95 points, while Carolina improved to 104 and clinched the Metropolitan Division.

Now comes the part Boston badly needs.

A reset.

After a messy road stretch, the Bruins finally get a few days to breathe, practice, and clean up details before Tampa Bay comes to TD Garden on Saturday, April 11.

With three games left, that time may matter as much as anything they did in Raleigh.