The Boston Bruins look like a different team in Game 1 of the 2013 playoffs than they did during the last day of the regular season.
As expected, Jaromir Jagr returned from his flu-like symptoms. To the surprise of some, the B’s made Dougie Hamilton a healthy scratch while Nathan Horton returned from an upper-body injury that resulted from a Jarome Iginla fight.
Horton, 27, has dealt with a series of concussion issues in the last few seasons, so Boston’s front office likely attempted to be as cautious as possible with the big forward.
While he can be a hot-and-cold guy scoring-wise, Bruins fans likely remember several big goals from the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup run. As a pending unrestricted free agent, Horton has plenty of motivation to score some more.
One depth bit: Rich Peverley has also been scratched for Kaspars Daugavins.