Brad Marchand is back, a full month earlier than anticipated.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Thursday morning that Marchand will play in Thursday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
Marchand underwent hip arthroscopy and labral repair procedures on both hips on May 27, and was initially given a recovery time of approximately six months, which would be the end of November.
Marchand began practicing without a non-contact jersey last week, and skated in his usual spot on Patrice Bergeron's left wing on Wednesday. However, Montgomery said on Wednesday that he did not expect Marchand to play Thursday, only that he would be back before Thanksgiving.
"I was a little coy yesterday, because we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves," Montgomery said. "We wanted to see how he responded to a good, hard practice yesterday."
Montgomery added that he will try to keep Marchand to 16-17 minutes, and that Marchand will not play Friday night in the second game of a back-to-back.
Marchand will play on a line with Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk. Montgomery told reporters that Taylor Hall, David Krejci and David Pastrnak will remain together as the second line, with Pavel Zacha dropping down to the third line.
Marchand said his timeline had shifted earlier a while ago, but that they kept it close to the vest in case there were any setbacks.
"We've kind of checked the boxes all along, each step that we took in the progression," Marchand said. "I felt good, and I responded really well. I have to give a ton of credit to the training staff. They did a phenomenal job."
