Then, to top it off, Nikita Zadorov fired up the TD Garden by roughing up Sam Bennnett, the same Sam Bennett who concussed Marchand in the playoffs last year and then became his friend on Team Canada at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.

The uncomfortable reality of Marchand and Boston being separate entities was inevitable after the team fell short a couple of years ago.

Brad Marchand’s hockey afterlife officially began Tuesday morning on Causeway Street, where he returned to the ice for the first time in more than a week, and for the first as an ex-Bruin.