It's About Time...

Nathan Horton finally did what Bruins fans
were waiting for: he scored a goal. 

For the first time in eleven games, Nathan Horton scored a goal Tuesday night. Nearly four minutes into the third period, Horton lifted a beautiful behind the net feed from center David Krejci past Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. While the Black and Gold held on to defeat Carolina 3-2 and improve their overall record to a division best 29-15-7, the real story of the game was Horton finally finding his scoring touch.

Acquired in a blockbuster offseason trade with the Florida Panthers, Horton was touted as the long-awaited answer to the Bruins less than stellar offensive game. A former third overall pick in the 2003 Draft, Horton came to the Bruins having scored at least 20 goals in the past five consecutive seasons. At the time of his departure, Horton even ranked third all-time in the Florida record books for scoring with 295 points. As a result, Peter Chiarelli and Cam Neely gladly gave up Dennis Wideman and a first round draft pick to land him last summer.  

At 6'2'', 229 lbs, Horton was exactly what the Bruins were looking for: a big, bruising winger with a rocket shot in his prime, a la Glen Murray. Plug him in on the first or second line next to a playmaking center like Marc Savard, David Krejci or Patrice Bergeron and Horton would flourish in Boston just like Murray riding alongside the slick passing Joe Thornton, or so the Bruins thought. 

Not so fast. 

After starting the season on fire (Horton tallied 18 points in his first 22 games), the 25-year-old winger has recorded just 11 points over the past 27 games. Tuesday's goal snapped a five game pointless streak for Horton. In fact, watching painful witness to his offensive struggles the past two months was beginning to make Big Papi's recent early season slumps look like a walk in the park. Then, Horton finally did what all of us were hoping he would: he scored a goal.