Morgan Geekie is back in the middle of the Bruins conversation as Marco Sturm weighs new line changes in Raleigh.

Boston close a 4-game road trip Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the timing matters.

They've dropped 3 straight and managed only 3 goals across that stretch.

That kind of dry spell usually forces a coach's hand, and Sturm looks headed that way again.

This isn't about a full teardown. It's about finding one line that can actually drive the night.

Geekie sits near the center of that decision. One of the most notable options on the table is putting him back alongside David Pastrnak, a move that would give Boston a more dangerous top unit right away.

The other possible tweak is lower in the lineup but still worth watching.

Alex Steeves could draw in for Lukas Reichel, which would give Boston another different look in the bottom six.

That tells you where the staff's head is at right now.

The Bruins don't need noise. They need a line that can hold pucks, get inside coverage, and stop wasting another night waiting for offense to show up.

Boston's forwards are under the most pressure

The blue line, for now, looks steady.

The expectation is that Boston leaves the defense pairs alone unless something changes before puck drop.

Jeremy Swayman is also projected to start, which keeps the crease stable even with the forward group in flux.

That matters against a Carolina team sitting in 1st place in the Eastern Conference.

The projected top line has Geekie with Fraser Minten and Pastrnak. Behind them, Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha, and Viktor Arvidsson give Boston another group that should be able to push play.

Further down, Elias Lindholm is projected between Reichel and Marat Khusnutdinov, while Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic round out the fourth line.

That's a lineup built more on response than comfort.

Boston still entered the day with a playoff berth probability above 99%, so this isn't panic time.

But it is a clear message from the bench that recent scoring isn't close to good enough.

And that's the real story here. Sturm isn't chasing style points on the last stop of a road trip.

He's trying to make sure his locker room doesn't carry a flat offensive stretch into the playoffs.