Preview: The Bruins are back at the Garden for the first time since a time we will ignore

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7 PM

Where: TD Garden - Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN Plus, 98.5 The Sports Hub, NHL Network (outside of Boston)

Rival SBN Site: Broad Street Hockey

Game notes

• A home game! The Bruins are back on Garden ice for the first time since...well, you know. There will be new black seats, a new supermarket out front, and a whole bunch of other new stuff, which is nice.
• Smarter hockey people than I insist that you should judge a team’s current state by the way it looks during the second week of preseason games, not the first. With that in mind, it’s time for the second week of preseason games! The Bruins made a few cuts yesterday, and more are likely coming in the next few days. The roster you see tonight likely won’t be full NHL, but it’ll look more like the Opening Night roster than what we’ve seen thus far.
• Completely uninformed speculation, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see guys like Tuukka Rask, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, etc. make their preseason debuts tonight.
• A note for those out of town: this game is part of the “broadcast share” series between the Bruins and Flyers; this means that fans in the Flyers’ market will actually see the NESN broadcast, which should be hilarious.
• This game will air on NESN Plus, which is understandable because so many people want to watch the Red Sox limp their way to the finish line.
• If you’re in the greater Boston area, here’s your NESN Plus channel guide (HD channels only): Comcast - 894; RCN - 600; Verizon FiOS - 578.
• I don’t know if Kevin Hayes will play for the Flyers tonight, but he is from Dorchester like me so please show some respect.