The left wing was in the starting lineup after he took part in the morning skate on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk. He practiced on the top power-play unit and led the stretch at the end of practice Wednesday.
"We had this date circled on the calendar months ago," Marchand said Thursday. "You know, we obviously wanted to keep it kind of close because a lot of different variables about things that could happen or how I was going to feel, we weren't quite sure, but we kind of checked the box all along, each step that we took and the progression. I felt good, and I responded really well, and I got to give a ton of credit to the training staff, they did a phenomenal job."
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Marchand would play Thursday one day after saying he did not expect him to.
"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. I'm excited to coach him and see the energy and the work ethic that he's going to bring to the Bruins tonight."
Marchand will not play at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. The Bruins' next game after that is at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
"He is not going to play in Columbus because we don't want him traveling, and just back to normal return to play after, you know, what he's gone through, we're not going to play him in back-to-back nights and we're going to allow him to recover here, and also we got a favorable schedule for him to recover for four days," Montgomery said.
Marchand had a hip arthroscopy and labral repair on both hips May 27. The original recovery timeline was set at six months, putting his return at the end of November.
"As soon as it came up that I was going to have the surgery, [the doctors] told me it was going to be kind of at end of November. I was like, 'It's not going to be the end of November. We're going to see what we can do,'" Marchand said. "So, we sat down and talked, and they knew where my head was at and what I was hoping to do, and they said, 'Alright, let's see what we can do,' but obviously, you know, we're dealing with the rehab, and we got to make sure it heals properly.
"It was wearing on me a little bit the last little while because we were getting close to the day of playing, and you know, anything could have gone wrong any day. I mean it almost did [Wednesday], I caught a rut and it could have been really ugly, so yeah, I was trying to make sure that before I announced it that it was going to be for sure."
Marchand said he was unclear what to expect from himself in his season debut.
"It's tough because it's a regular season game, it's not an exhibition game, clearly, but normally you have three or four of those to get ready for the season where, you know, you go in and you feel it out and make sure you're kind of where you want to be," he said. "It's OK to make some mistakes, but that's not the case tonight, and so it's about making sure going in I'm not a liability out there and not getting in the guys' way. They're rolling and feeling good, so I mean the main thing is keeping it simple."
Marchand acknowledged that the Bruins' success (6-1-0) has helped him take his time, knowing they are focused on the long-term goals, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even without Marchand and top defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who also was set to be out for six months after a left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure June 3, Boston has been rolling.
"It's tough to sit out, but it definitely made it easier with the guys winning, so I obviously got to thank them for doing that," Marchand said
NHL.com independent correspondent Joseph Pohoryles contributed to this report
