BOSTON (AP) — The Little Ball of Hate still feels a lot of love for Boston.

Brad Marchand struggled to hold back tears on the ice when the TD Garden crowd gave him a standing ovation Tuesday night during his first game back as a Bruins opponent. The 37-year-old forward tapped his heart, wiped his face and waved to the crowd as both teams banged their sticks against the ice and even the referee and linesmen clapped along.

“I knew it was going to hit me the way it did. It was extremely touching,” Marchand said after the game, a 4-3 Panthers victory in which he had two assists. “The Bruins will always hold a very, very dear place in my heart."

The last remaining member of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team, Marchand was traded from the non-contending Bruins to the Panthers last season

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