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Horton doubt puts pressure on bottom-six

June 15, 2013, 4:39 AM ET [59 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Injured on a Boston power-play in triple-overtime, perennial playoff hero Nathan Horton didn’t look like a man ready to play hockey any time soon. Clutching his shoulder, skating off, and not returning in what’d end as a B’s loss on a double-deflection from the Blackhawks’ Andrew Shaw, dropping a marathon Game 1 at the United Center, a return to the ice on Friday for the Black-and-Gold came with full participation from Horton.

But is all good on the Boston top line? Reportedly dealing with ‘chronic shoulder subluxation’ since his fight with Pittsburgh’s Jarome Iginla back on Apr. 20, a fight that caused Horton to miss the final five games of the regular season, there’s no doubt that Horton’s done a remarkable job of fighting through the pain (tallying seven goals and 18 points in 17 playoff games), but is this simply going to be too much? Throughout the playoffs, the 28-year-old Horton has allegedly been taking injections to ease the pain in his shoulder, and while the shoulder was ‘popped back into place’ after he exited on Wednesday night, the word from Boston coach Claude Julien is that his top-liner is still “day-to-day.”

Ipso facto, we really have no idea what Horton’s status is for the Bruins’ pivotal Game 2.

Insert your, “Uh-oh,” here.

On display once Horton left the ice in pain during Game 1, it’s clear that the Bruins’ depth is just not the same with Horton (or anybody on the club’s top-six) out of action. Forcing the 21-year-old Tyler Seguin up to the top-line, the ripple effect had Kaspars Daugavins skating on a more frequent basis in big time situations, and ultimately appeared to exhaust the absolute hell out of the Bruins’ second line featuring Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Jaromir Jagr. Why? Well aside from the obvious fatigue that a near six period hockey game has on the body -- one for the series lead in a Stanley Cup Final, no less -- the Bruins simply do not have the ability to ‘roll four lines’ like they did in the previous three rounds.

Let’s be honest -- Below the Bergeron line, it’s an absolute disaster.

With the fourth line (the Merlot Line) losing its face with the season-ending broken fibula suffered by Gregory Campbell, the painfully struggling Chris Kelly has taken a step back to the fourth line, while the third line has become a mix-match of sorts sometimes featuring Danny Paille over Daugavins with Rich Peverley and Seguin. Like I said, a disaster. In 17 playoff games this year, the Bruins have gotten just a combined two goals from the trio of Peverley, Kelly, and Seguin. To put their goal-scoring ineptitude into context, the three combined for three times as many goals (six for those anti-math folks out there) in the Bruins’ seven-game series loss to the Washington Capitals last spring. Accounting for six of the Bruins’ 15 goals in the 2012 playoffs (40 percent), the three scored 12 of the Bruins’ 81 goals in the 2011 postseason (15 percent), but have somehow been able to account for just four percent of Boston’s scoring this spring, with two of the club’s 53 goals coming off their collective sticks.

Again, a disaster.

So, in a perfect world that sees No. 18 suit up on Boston’s top-line, the need for these guys to start scoring becomes less dire for Julien’s squad, but dire nevertheless. If Boston learned anything from the Blackhawks’ Game 1 victory over ‘em, it’s that Chicago’s a team capable of rolling four lines just as well (if not better than Boston), and holy heck, their four lines are actually doing something. In layman’s terms: You need these guys to start showing up and being more than a body in uniform. Sans Campbell (who had seven points in 15 games this spring), the Boston bottom-six has undeniably lacked an identity, and need to find it fast -- or before this one becomes an 0-2 hole, at the very least.

Now if Horton’s a no-go before or after the pregame skate? Oh, boy are you in for a real treat.

(Or an awful, miserable time where compliance buyouts can’t be filed fast enough).

With Horton shelved, you’d see the 2012 playoff trio of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Seguin reunited, a game that could ultimately slow the production of Lucic and Krejci down given the way Seguin’s game (one apparently based on breakneck speed and firing it on net as fast as humanly imaginable) doesn’t seem to mesh with the methodical approach of both Lucic and Krejci. This, however, could of course be an issue addressed with more time together, as the three certainly seemed to have their chances when thrown together in triple-overtime. For Boston, the second line would of course remain the same, while the third line would get an entire facelift, with Carl Soderberg evidently centering a line featuring Peverley and Paille on the wings.

That’s where it gets interesting though, as that third line would feature a wicked mix of speed, size, and more speed. Allegedly not ready for playoff play, but with two points in just six career NHL games, the 6-foot-3 Soderberg undoubtedly presents a better idea than the alternatives (the 38-year-old Jay Pandolfo or hot-and-cold Jordan Caron), and didn’t really do anything to warrant being benched in the postseason in the first place.

“Jordan is a power forward, excels along the walls, front of the net. He's gotten better at taking pucks to the net. Soderberg is more of a playmaker, more of a natural centerman than a winger, but can play both. He's got good size. He's got good skills,” said Julien of his options heading into Game 2 if Horton’s unavailable. “I would have no hesitation at all, if need be, to put either one of those guys in. They're guys that are capable of stepping in and helping out. That's why we call them depth players. They're capable of playing in the Stanley Cup Final.”

Seemingly sat with better options ready at the start of the playoffs (namely Horton and noted faceoff-monster Kelly), Soderberg’s potential insertion into the lineup comes (perhaps to your surprise) as a no-brainer for me.

In the case of Caron, we’re simply talking about a player that’s never really proven anything at the NHL level outside of a 30-day stretch last year and opening month as a rookie during the 2010-11 season. He’s a player that struggled as a third year AHLer, and has always battled with his own confidence since arriving to Boston. When he’s on, he’s a legitimate two-way forward that plays a hard-nosed, go to the net type of game. When off, he’s an absolute disaster on the ice susceptible to ungodly mistakes and a truly “shy game.” And in a game as important as Game 2 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, you can’t afford a battle with Caron’s own mind. Not even for a nanosecond.

But even looking beyond the head-to-head, we’re talking about what each player’s game would bring to the table in place of Horton, particularly in the case of Horton’s presence on the Boston man-advantage, which went a modest 1-for-3 on Wednesday night. A staple on the Bruins’ second power-play unit with Marchand on the left wing and Krejci down the middle, the 6-foot-2 Horton brought an element of size to the line, and with a shot to boot.

And just who fits that mold more -- a big, smooth skater capable of playing both center and wing that scored 31 goals in 54 games in the SEL this year and one that the Bruins fought to bring over from Sweden for years for this exact reason, or one that recorded just 11 goals (three in one game, for the record) in 47 contests for the Providence B’s in 2013? On this subject, I rest my case.

Also, how about the projected fourth line of this lineup -- Daugavins, Kelly, and Thornton? That, albeit with perhaps a little less sandpaper, is what you’re going to get if you’re looking to get the closest thing possible to the ‘Merlot Line’ without noticeably hampering the rest of the club’s lines.

But then again, it’s not as if the club’s bottom-six can get any worse at this point, right?

Oh man, try reading that last line without letting out a heavy, semi-depressing sigh.
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