The highlight of Gregory Campbell will forever be embedded in Bruins fans’ hearts after last year’s Stanley Cup run.

Campbell taking a blistering shot off his leg fighting to gain balance on the penalty kill gets to his feet to finish his shift versus the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. That was the last time Bruins fans saw Campbell don the spoked ‘B’ until last night at TD Garden where he made his preseason debut in the team’s 8-2 loss to the Red Wings.

Head Coach Claude Julien was happy to get his fourth-line center back on the ice and was happy about his debut.

“He’s fine,” Julien said. “I think he skated well tonight. It’s his first game back and obviously get the cob webs out of the way and unfortunately it wasn’t the best outing for our team to come back but he was fine, he felt good and I thought he skated well.”

Campbell did not feel out of place in his first game back with his teammates which is always a good sign.

“As far as my body goes, I felt pretty good,” Campbell said. “I was far from perfect, but I think there’s a foundation there to build on and I didn’t necessarily feel out of place. So, you know, it’s been a long couple of months so just very grateful to be back out on the ice.”

As Gregory Campbell headed on to the ice for his first shift the crowd cheered loudly and Campbell knew how special that was.

“I’m extremely appreciative of the support from the fans,” Campbell said. “I want to play hard for them and for the city and the organization and they’re a passionate group, they know their hockey, so it was very nice to hear that.”

Campbell reiterated after the game the B’s must move past this game and continue to get better as a whole while competing at their highest level.

“We made some mistakes out there and you have to expect that, but as far as the coaching staff, the demands they have on us as players are pretty simple and they want us to compete,” Campbell said. “Despite the score and Malcolm, he made some good saves tonight. He’s a young kid and that’s a really good team over there with some young players and I think the onus is on us to help him out a little bit more and as a veteran player, no matter if it’s a preseason game or a regular season game, I think that standard has to be a big higher. Having said that, it was the third game as a team and there’s plenty to build on.”

Four months removed from surgery, Campbell looks to continue right where he left off during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.