Meaningful hockey makes its long-awaited return to TD Garden on Thursday as the Boston Bruins host the Winnipeg Jets to open the 2015-16 regular season.
Boston will trot out a revamped lineup that features a bevy of newcomers — five players will be making their Bruins debuts — but lacks defenseman Zdeno Chara, who will miss the game as he continues to recover from an upper body injury.
The Jets, meanwhile, kept largely intact the roster that earned Winnipeg a playoff berth last season. Each of their top five point-scorers are back, including captain Andrew Ladd (team-high 62 points) and former Bruins winger Blake Wheeler, who led the team in goals last season with 26.