Extended pause allows Boston to regroup

The ever-lurking COVID-19 virus has thrown the NHL’S season off-kilter. It has scuttled the league’s involvement in the Beijing Olympics, and the schedule-makers now have to find landing spots for a host of postponed games, including six Bruin contests.

But if you’re a Bruins fan, the timing was perfect for a team in dire need of a reboot. By the time the league decided to pause the season after a loss in Long Island, the Bruins were losing players on a daily basis, which in turn prevented them from building off what should have been two big wins in Alberta.

Now they have an opportunity to reset. With Taylor Hall returning to practice Monday, the B’s just have two players in protocol, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle, and there is hope that they can get Carlo back before the week is over.

The B’s next scheduled game — their first since the loss to the Islanders on Dec. 16 — is a New Year’s Day matinee at the Garden against the Buffalo Sabres, which gives them a week of nipping and tucking their game. Coach Bruce Cassidy said he’ll get feedback from the players on whether to take a day or two off later in the week but sounded excited to be able to hold what he called “a mini-training camp” this week. So far, the players are on board with that.

“They’re excited themselves to get out there. Don’t forget, these guys are used to coming to work six days a week in the winter,” Cassidy said. “It’s not like we want to get away from our families. We just want to get back to work and go in and do what we do best. I’m sure the players are excited about that right now. No one likes to practice over and over, but I think the early part of this week is good. The energy is great out there. The guys are excited to see one another as well. It is a good group of guys that like each other. That part of it is nice for us as a staff. We don’t have to create energy. We might have to late in the week because then you’ll be practicing three or four days in a row and you’re like, ‘C’mon, when’s the next game?’ ”

There may come a time soon when they’ll be longing for a day off here and there. Having played only 26 games, they have until the end of April to jam in 56 more unless the league extends the season. In the month of January, the B’s will have just one two-day break. Otherwise, they’re playing every other night, with two sets of back-to-backs thrown in.