Brad Marchand stepped back onto the ice at the TD Garden in a Panthers practice jersey as the longtime Bruins player returned to Boston for the first time since he was traded to Florida.

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.

Monday was all about Brad Marchant joining the Florida Panthers. Tuesday is going to be about Marchand saying goodbye to the Boston Bruins. Although Marchand will not play for the Panthers in Boston tonight due to his upper-body injury,

Marchand is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and will not play Tuesday, but he will join his new team for the start of a six-game road trip.

But instead of donning a black-and-gold Boston Bruins jersey -- or even a fourth-line merlot jersey -- Marchand was wearing a white sweater, emblazoned with “Property of Florida” surrounding a Florida Panthers logo. It was a jarring sight. Even, seemingly, to Marchand.

While the former Bruins captain is still weeks away from returning to game action following an upper-body injury, Marchand is starting to ingratiate himself to his new teammates days after Boston dealt him to one of their most-loathed rivals.

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

Pavel Zacha scored the game-winner with 3:17 left in regulation to punctuate the Boston Bruins' three-goal third period in a 3-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.