When it arrives in full is still to be determined, but the cavalry is on the way for the Bruins.

Charlie McAvoy, out since Nov. 15 with a broken jaw, and David Pastrnak, out since Nov. 26 with an unspecified injury, practiced with the team on Monday and are traveling for its three-game road trip starting in St. Louis on Tuesday and then moving on to Winnipeg on Thursday before closing it out in Minnesota on Sunday.

Pastrnak wore a red non-contact jersey in practice, while McAvoy was in regular, full-participation jersey.

In speaking last Friday, McAvoy sounded as if his absence was going to be longer from the injury he suffered when taking a Noah Dobson slapper to the face in Montreal. He was supposed to be off solid food for six weeks since the surgery.

“I’m not supposed to be, but you’ve got to what you’ve got to do,” he said with a grin.

When he got hurt, he weighed about 215 pounds and he dropped below 200 with his restrictions. But he said on Monday that he’s about halfway back to his original weight.

“Getting it back one day at a time, but every day I’m feeling better so I’ll just keep doing that,” said McAvoy. “We’re getting (the strength) back. We’re getting the chances now to do more skating, skate longer, work out on the ice. We’re making strides and healing on the fly.”

He still needs to be cleared by the medical staff, with whom he checks in every day, but the B’s top defenseman did not rule out playing against the Blues. Whether that happens or not, he does expect to play at some point on the trip.

The same goes for Pastrnak. He suffered the injury late in the B’s win over the Islanders on Long Island when he appeared to grab at his his hip/side/upper leg area. When it happened, he did not expect to be out this long.

“I had similar things in past years and I was always able to play with that. When the injury happened, I honestly felt I would be playing next game. I wasn’t able to. So, something new,” said Pastrnak. “It’s tough but at the end of the day, I had a great (week and a half). I’ve been able to work on my game away from the ice, too. The trainers are doing a great job and I feel good right now.”

When he was injured, it broke a streak of 298 games, including playoffs, in which Pastrnak had played.

“It sucks. I’m happy I was there today and we’ll see how I feel (Tuesday). I’ve been pretty fortunate the past couple of years and I just want to get back out there,” said Pastrnak.

In the stars’ absences, the B’s have managed to keep their heads above water. Since McAvoy has been out, the B’s are 5-5 while, without both McAvoy and Pastrnak, the B’s are 3-2, thanks to back-to-back wins against St. Louis and New Jersey.

“It’s incredible. It’s so much fun to watch. You see the group, you see the connectedness,” said McAvoy. “I know it because I’ve been here. But you see it plain as day. This team plays for each other. No matter who’s in or out, we play the same way. Guys step up. We get big goals from guys. And defensively, we’re just a tough out. I think we’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year when we were trying to understand what (coach Marco Sturm) wanted from us to now when we’re playing a winning style. Every night we’re going to be a tough out. And that was what we wanted to be in the summer when we talked about it. We’re doing really good. We’re 30 (games) in now. We’ve got a long ways to go but I think that’s even more encouraging as we can keep getting better.”

That the B’ remained competitive helped the injured players to rehab with some peace of mind.

“It’s tough be injured and tough not to be able to help, but the guys, so much credit to them,” said Pastrnak. “They’ve been amazing and made it so much each easier, every single one stepping up. It’s always been like this here. It’s the next man mentality. Everybody is equal here. We try to include everybody and this is a perfect example. Guys are playing so well and, most importantly, we’re winning hockey games.”

The B’s will welcome McAvoy and Pastrnak back as soon as they are ready, of course. But as we’ve so often seen, return of injured players, even stars, does not always translate into immediate success. Whether it’s because of the returning players’ rustiness or their returns cause a collective exhale from the rest of the players, re-integrating players can be tricky.

For the B’s, we saw it for one game when Viktor Arvidsson returned in Detroit. In Ottawa, meanwhile, the long-awaited return of Brady Tkachuk has produced a 1-4 record.

“That’s why me as a coach and the coaching staff and especially the leadership group, we just have to make sure nothing changes,” said Sturm. “I think we’ve been very good, structure-wise, for a bit and that’s going to be the biggest thing. The guys coming back, they have to find their way in the lineup, playing the same, exact way they finished. For us, we just want to make sure they’re ready to go, physically, mentally. We don’t want to rush things, but both look good now and hopefully on the road at one point that can play.”