For nearly a year, the Boston Bruins acclimated themselves to the daily grind caused by the COVID-19 pandemic off the ice. On the frozen sheet, they adjusted to playing in front of empty crowds beginning in August inside the Toronto playoff bubble.
Several months elapsed before the Bruins returned to meaningful hockey last week for their opening three-game road trip with a pair of contests in Newark and Monday’s tilt in Long Island. On Wednesday, for the first time since facing the Lightning in their last home game on March 7, they returned to an empty TD Garden in preparations for Thursday’s home opener against the Flyers.