Nathan Horton Nathan Horton ( born May 29 , 1985 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . During his career , Horton has also played for the Florida Panthers , the Thorold Blackhawks of the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League ( GHJHL ) , the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) and the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) . During his only season with Thorold he played in 41 games , scoring 16 goals and 31 assists . With Oshawa he scored 64 goals and recorded 71 assists for his career . Following his time with Oshawa , Horton was drafted by the Florida Panthers and spent his first professional season playing for the team . However , during what would be his second season , the NHL cancelled the season which caused Horton to find another team to play for . Instead of going to Europe as many other NHL players had , he joined the Panthers ' AHL affiliate , the San Antonio Rampage . In an injury shortened season , Horton played in 21 games for the Rampage scoring 5 goals and recording 4 assists . Playing career . Minor Hockey . Horton grew up in Dunnville , Ontario playing much of his minor hockey with the Welland Tigers of the OMHA South Central AAA League before graduating to the Thorold Blackhawks Jr . B . club of the OHA ' s Golden Horseshoe League . For much of his career with Welland , Horton played up on the " ' 84 " Tigers team with future NHL ' ers Dan Girardi , Daniel Paille ( current Bruins teammate ) and Andre Deveaux . Junior career . Horton first entered junior hockey as a player for the Thorold Blackhawks . In one season with Thorold he scored 16 goals and registered 31 assists in 41 games . Prior to the 2001 OHL Draft , a 16 – year old Horton stated that if he was drafted first overall by the Mississauga Ice Dogs , he would not report to the team . He was instead selected second overall in the draft by the Oshawa Generals . As a rookie in the OHL , Horton totaled 31 goals and 36 assists in 64 games for the Generals . To begin the 2002 – 03 season , Horton missed 13 games out of 22 but still ended up scoring 9 goals with 18 points during that span . Horton was named to the Canadian national junior team ' s selection camp in December but was one of the first cuts . He ended his final season in Oshawa with 33 goals and 35 assists in 54 games . 2003 NHL Entry Draft . In January 2002 , Horton , along with Patrick O ' Sullivan and Kevin Klein , was regarded as a top prospect from the OHL for the 2003 NHL Entry Draft . Eleven months later in December , Horton was called , " an almost sure - fire top five pick " by " USA Today " . Midway through the 2002 – 03 season , Horton was regarded as a top - five North American prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau . Scouts likened Horton , who considered him a " power forward " , to John LeClair who was considered to be one of the best power forwards in the NHL . However , Horton stated that he saw himself to be more like Jeremy Roenick or Peter Forsberg , both of whom were faster than LeClair . The Florida Panthers , who originally held the first overall pick but traded it to the Pittsburgh Penguins , selected Horton with the third overall pick . Goaltender Marc - André Fleury ( Pittsburgh ) and centre Eric Staal ( Carolina ) were selected before him . Florida Panthers . Horton signed with the Panthers on October 6 , 2003 . After his signing , Panthers coach Mike Keenan compared Horton to future New York Rangers Hall of Famer Mark Messier . Against the Minnesota Wild on October 24 , Horton recorded his first career point with an assist on an Ivan Novoseltsev goal . Horton recorded his first career goal on November 1 against the San Jose Sharks . In the next game for the Panthers against the Los Angeles Kings , Horton scored his second goal in as many games . On January 9 , 2004 , Horton became the first rookie in NHL history to record a goal on a penalty shot , scoring against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Jeff Hackett . Three seasons later , on October 22 , 2006 , Penguins rookie Jordan Staal matched the feat and surpassed Horton as the youngest player to score ; Staal was 183 days younger than Horton was when he scored . Four days after his penalty shot goal , Horton suffered a torn rotator cuff and labrum which would potentially end his season . At the time , he was third on the Panthers with 10 goals . Following an examination by surgeon Tony Miniaci , Horton was told that he could rehabilitate naturally and did not require surgery on his shoulder . He returned to the Panthers in early March and scored in one of his first games back against the Tampa Bay Lightning . However , his shoulder troubles continued and it was determined that surgery was required . Horton ended his rookie campaign with 14 goals and 8 assists in 55 games . The 2004 – 05 NHL season ended up being locked out which forced Horton and other players to sign with other teams . Horton eventually signed with the Panthers ' AHL affiliate , the San Antonio Rampage after a controversy ensued as to whether junior hockey eligible players such as Horton were obligated to return to their junior teams . Despite not signing with the Rampage until October 29 , Horton still participated in their training camp . Seven minutes into his second AHL game , Horton scored his first goal of the season . He recorded his first career AHL assist on a Gregory Campbell goal . On December 3 , 2004 , against the Houston Aeros , Horton scored both of the Rampage ' s goals to help the team win in overtime . For the second straight season , the Panthers did not allow Horton to play for the Canadian national junior team . He and Houston Aeros defenceman Brent Burns were the only two players not allowed to play for the team . Days before the announcement that Horton would not play for Team Canada , he suffered another shoulder injury which allegedly played into the Panthers ' decision . Horton suffered the shoulder injury in a fight in December and missed 14 games . He was informed he would again have to undergo surgery . In 21 games for San Antonio , Horton scored 5 goals and recorded 4 assists . Entering the 2005 – 06 season , Horton stated in response to a question about his shoulders , " I feel better . I feel stronger , bigger . " In the season opener against the Atlanta Thrashers , Horton scored the first goal for the Panthers . Through the first games of the season , Horton was tied for the team lead in goals . On November 8 , 2005 , Horton was placed on injured reserve because of a knee injury . He was activated on December 1 and scored in his first game back against the Washington Capitals to help the Panthers win 3 – 2 . Horton added 2 goals against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Panthers ' next game to bring his season total to 10 in 17 games . Against the Nashville Predators on December 13 , Horton recorded his first career hat trick and stated after the game that , " It ' s a pretty nice feeling . I felt like there was no one on me . I just tried to get it to the net and it went in every time . " Despite missing 10 games to injury , Horton was tied with teammate Olli Jokinen for the team lead in goals with 16 after 38 games . Against Washington on January 9 , Horton and Joe Nieuwendyk scored a goal in the shootout to help the Panthers win 4 – 3 . Two days after his shootout goal , Horton was promoted to the Panthers ' first line . Despite his promotion to the first line , Horton ' s name was mentioned in a potential trade with the Vancouver Canucks ; however , nothing materialized . In a 6 – 2 win over the Ottawa Senators , Horton scored 2 goals including one on a rebound , after which he said , " It just popped right out to me . It was a long time coming for goals for me . I got lucky tonight and hopefully they keep going in . " In March , Horton began playing in penalty kill situations for the first time in his career . Also against the Lightning , Horton scored the Panthers ' only goal with his 27th goal of the season . Horton completed the season playing 71 games , scoring 28 goals and adding 19 assists . Following the 2005 – 06 season , Horton ' s rookie contract expired . He was re - signed by Florida on July 12 , 2006 , to a one - year , $ 1 . 1 million contract . Against the Boston Bruins , Horton scored his first goal of the season to help the Panthers win 8 – 3 . He scored his third goal of the season on October 18 in a 5 – 2 loss against the Washington Capitals , who the Panthers had not lost to in regulation since the 2004 – 05 season . After Horton was called for a second - period penalty against Atlanta , coach Jacques Martin demoted Horton to the fourth line in an attempt to send a message to Horton . Before long , however , Horton was again promoted to the first line , with Finnish players Olli Jokinen and Ville Peltonen . They gave Horton the name " Nathan Hortonen " in an attempt to make his name Finnish . Against the Montreal Canadiens on November 16 , Horton assisted on all goals that Jokinen recorded . Against Tampa Bay on February 17 , Horton scored the game winning goal for Florida , 29 seconds into overtime . For the second straight season , Horton ' s name was brought up in trade offers ; however Canadian sports writer , Bruce Garrioch called it " doubtful " that Horton would be traded despite Horton being unhappy playing in Florida . Against Tampa Bay on March 28 , Horton scored two goals , which brought his season total for goals against the Lightning up to 8 . In the Panthers ' next game against the Lightning , Horton had 1 goal which made it 9 goals and 3 assists for him against Tampa Bay in the 2006 – 07 season . The goal also gave Horton his career - high 31st goal on the season . He ended the season with 31 goals and 31 assists in 82 games . Horton re - signed with the Panthers on June 21 , 2007 , to a six - year , US $ 24 million contract . despite previous rumours he would not . Through seven games for the Panthers to open the 2007 – 08 NHL season , Horton recorded 3 goals and 3 assists , during which he had a four - game point streak . Horton scored the only goal for the Panthers in a 2 – 1 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on November 18 . Against the Washington Capitals on November 28 , Horton along with teammates Olli Jokinen , Kamil Kreps and Stephen Weiss scored shootout goals to help Florida win the game . For the first time since March 2007 , Horton scored 2 goals in a game to help the Panthers win over the Atlanta Thrashers on December 28 . Horton and linemate David Booth combined for three goals against the New York Islanders , of which Horton scored two . In the Panthers ' 5 – 3 win over the Ottawa Senators on January 22 , 2008 , Horton recorded 4 assists , which was a career – high . Horton scored against Vancouver Canucks goalie and former Panther Roberto Luongo in a shootout to help the Panthers win 4 – 3 , giving them their first win over Vancouver since 1999 . Horton scored a goal against the Washington Capitals to help Florida win 4 – 2 in the game after Richard Zednik suffered a neck injury in which he had his external carotid artery cut by a skate . Twenty - two seconds into overtime against the Boston Bruins on March 5 , Horton scored to give the Panthers a 1 – 0 victory . Four days later on March 9 , Horton scored again in overtime with 23 seconds left , causing the " Miami Herald " to nickname him the " King of Overtime " . On April 5 , Horton scored his 100th career goal . Prior to the start of the 2008 – 09 NHL season , Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer , who first saw Horton play at seven years old , said about his hopes for Horton , " If I ' m looking for guys to do more , he wouldn ' t be at the top of the list . If he can give us 30 - plus , I ' d be happy with Nathan . There ' s a group of guys underneath him that I think can make a lot bigger jumps than I need out of Nathan Horton goal - wise . " Horton was also moved from his position of right wing to centre before the season . After playing a few games at centre , Horton said , " It ' s not as easy as wing . You can play wing and all you have to concentrate on is getting the puck and shooting it . At center , you have more responsibilities . " Against the Nashville Predators on November 1 , Horton played in his 300th career game , but failed to record a point . On November 26 , Horton suffered a deep cut in his leg after it was stepped on by a skate . At the time of the injury , Horton had 6 goals and 7 assists . In early December , the " Ottawa Sun " reported that the Panthers might have been looking to trade Horton after he was reportedly unhappy playing for the team . Horton returned to the lineup on December 17 after missing eight games . After the game , Horton commented , " I ' m excited to play . It ' s kind of a different Panthers team than the past . It ' s really changed in a matter of a month . Things are going good now , and everybody ' s really buying into what Pete has been telling us all year . " On January 17 , Horton recorded 3 assists to help the Panthers defeat Tampa Bay , 4 – 3 . For the second time during the season , Horton ' s name came up in trade rumours , this time with the Chicago Blackhawks . In early March , days after the trade deadline , Horton suffered a finger injury that forced him to have surgery . He returned to the lineup on March 23 , recording an assist in a Panthers loss to the Carolina Hurricanes . Horton ended the season with 22 goals and 23 assists in 67 games . Boston Bruins . Horton was traded to the Boston Bruins on June 22 , 2010 along with Gregory Campbell for Dennis Wideman , the Bruins first round pick ( 15th overall ) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft , and third round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft . He got off to a great start in his first season in Boston , with seven goals and six assists , including a six game point streak , in the first 12 games of the season . He finished second on the team in goals and fourth in assists . During the first round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs , Horton scored a game - winning overtime goal for the Bruins in both games five and seven to help the Bruins win the series over the Montreal Canadiens . A third period goal by Horton against the Tampa Bay Lightning , the only goal of game 7 , later sent the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals . In game three of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals , Horton was hit with late check to the head by Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome . Rome received a five - minute major for interference and a game misconduct . Horton seemed concussed and unresponsive as he was carried out on a stretcher and put into an ambulance . He was moving all his extremities in the ambulance . He was later diagnosed with a severe concussion and missed the remainder of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals . Rome was suspended for 4 games following the hit . Together they have one son named Dylan Jaxon Horton .