Bruins’ report: Hurtin’ Horton day-to-day with injured left shoulder
BY STEVE CONROY Boston Herald June 13, 2013 10:20PM
Nathan Horton has had shoulder issues since his days with the Panthers. | Getty Images
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Updated: June 14, 2013 12:22AM
Bruins coach Claude Julien didn’t shed too much light on winger Nathan Horton’s injury Thursday, merely saying he was day-to-day.
Julien didn’t delve into any specifics, but it’s believed Horton exacerbated a left shoulder injury he has been battling since a fight April 20 against the Penguins’ Jarome Iginla. Horton had to leave that game and missed the rest of the regular season.
At the time, it was widely speculated to be a hand or wrist injury, but that no longer appears to be the case.
It’s believed he has been dealing with a chronic partial dislocation of the shoulder. It remains to be seen if the training and medical staffs will be able to get him back into the series and how effective he’d be without reinjuring the shoulder.
The play on which he was hurt Wednesday in Game 1 appeared innocent enough.
Horton — who has had shoulder problems going back to his days with the Panthers — was jostling with Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson in front of the net on a power play in the first overtime. After minimal contact in a positional battle, Horton doubled over in pain and skated off the ice. He did not return.
There’s a good chance Horton could require a Bankart procedure, a fairly common surgery among athletes that’s pretty effective in correcting the problem, after the season. Considering what he has been playing through, Horton has been having an amazing postseason. He has seven goals and 11 assists, and his plus-22 is the best in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“You look at what he’s accomplished, and he’s a big part of our team,” Julien said. “He had a big assist on the [Milan] Lucic goal. He’s listed as day-to-day, so we’ll see.”
If Horton can’t go, it’s a good bet Tyler Seguin will step into his spot on the top line with David Krejci and Lucic, as he did for the rest of Game 1. Jordan Caron would be the likely candidate to enter the lineup.
