In his debut the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nathan Horton not only scored his first goal of the season, but it counted as the winner.
The Blue Jackets defeated the Phoenix Coyotes by a final score of 2-0. Horton, who signed as a free agent with the Blue Jackets for seven years at $37.1 million and had off-season shoulder surgery, delaying his entry in the Columbus lineup, finished the night with just under 15 minutes of ice time.
For the Coyotes, the loss was only made worse by the departure of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who left the game after the first period with an upper-body injury.
The injury occurred when he was hit from behind into the glass by Blue Jackets’ forward Derek MacKenzie.