Nathan Horton is back, and with a healthy Horton comes a line that was drastically different without him. 

At its best, the trio of David Krejci between Milan Lucic and Horton gives the Bruins a first line that boasts top offensive skill with a heavy side dish of bruising, exhausting play. 

Krejci is arguably the most talented forward on the roster not named Seguin, while his two-way play is strong enough to warrant the minutes he gets in Claude Julien’s system. What separates the line from so many others, however, is its set of power forwards in Lucic and Horton, who stand at 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-2, respectively, and both weigh over 225 pounds. When on their game, they physically overpower other teams’ top-six forwards while also flashing the offensive skillset that has given them 30-goal seasons. 

Without Horton, the line’s identity changes drastically, and that’s something the B’s have had to deal with in each of the last two seasons due to concussions. Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin brought different things to the line (it was naturally a quicker line that scored a ton when Seguin saw time on Horton’s wing last season, but the line was broken up after about a handful of games because of how many goals it was allowing), but it wasn’t as difficult for opponents to play against. 

“It's different [without Horton],” Lucic said Monday. “He's another player who plays that power forward-type style. He's not afraid to get in there and he's got a great shot. Also, he's a great passer. He's great at making plays -- not that Rich and Tyler aren't as well -- but he brings another dynamic because of his physical play.”

Horton has been skating since the summer and would have been ready to go for the season had it started in October. It didn’t start in October, of course, and that means that Horton hasn’t played a game in almost exactly a calendar year and, until this week, hadn’t taken any physical contact since being hit in the head by Tom Sestito and promptly starting a scrum last Jan. 22. 

On Sunday, Horton buried a wrist shot from the hashmarks. That’s a pretty common occurrence in any hockey practice, but it served as a reminder of how much Horton impressed when he first came to the B’s in the 2010-11 season. He got off to a hot start in that season, scoring a pair of goals on wristers from the high slot in a season-opening loss to the Coyotes. He finished with 26 goals in that up-and-down season, but he established that he was an ideal bookend for a line with Lucic. 

Everything that Horton brought – both from a talent standpoint and a physical standpoint – has been missed sorely when he’s been out of the lineup. In the 45 games leading up to and including Horton’s injury, Lucic scored 17 goals. In the 43 after it (including seven goal-less games in the playoffs), he scored nine. Krejci’s numbers dropped off too, as he had 27 assists in 43 games with Horton and just 14 helpers in the next 43 without him. 

“I'm glad he's back and we can get the type of game we used to play when he was here,” Krejci said. “I'm excited about that. 

“Him and Looch are big bodies, so I'm pretty sure every time they're on the ice, the other team's aware of it and they don't want to play against them. I like to have them on my line, so when they're there, I keep it simple. Put the puck in, and those two guys will go at it and get the puck back to me nine times out of 10.”

Julien has high hopes for the trio this season, and the line could have a rather interesting impact in games early on in the campaign. For all of the talk about contests being fast and reckless due to the short training camp, a line with a couple of power of forwards could either be wildly successful or struggle to keep up. On one hand, Lucic and Horton can really wear down players in some sloppy games and force them to battle more than they’d want to in a chaotic contest.

“That's our game. That's the style that we've been playing the last two seasons, so we expect to play the same way,” Lucic said. “It's up to us to play that grinding, big-bodied type of style. As hard as we want to work is what's going to dictate the way we play.”

Said Horton: “We've just got to get the puck deep and just go battle it out. I think we know that especially in the first few games, when we get the puck to get it deep and work in their end. That's what we're going to try and do.”  

On the other hand, both Lucic and Horton have been known to go through drowsy stretches at points of the season. If they don’t come out flying, they might find guys flying past them.

“The one thing you've got to remember here is one guy hasn't played in a year and the other guy hasn't played yet this year in the first half, so bigger bodies a lot of times will take a little longer to get going, but we're going to push those guys as hard as we can to help them get to the level we need them to get to,” Julien said. “No doubt, if that line is going like it has in the past, with a great center man like David Krejci, there's no doubt they're going to be a big key to our hockey club this year. The quicker they get going, the better it's going to be for us.”

Considering the Bruins didn’t make many offseason splashes, the biggest change among their top six forwards won’t be change more than guys getting reacclimated. Krejci and Lucic see the same old Horton, while Horton insists he isn’t thinking about his history of head injuries. The three of them are just eager to go back to what they once were, and the Bruins are eager to see it.

“We know what they bring because we saw it [in 2010-11],” Julien said. “Losing Horton in the finals was a big blow to our hockey club. He's a big body, but not only that, he can skate for his size and he can certainly shoot the puck. That's certainly going to help, and Looch is the same way. If he can use his size and strength to his advantage, that's not a line that too many teams like playing against when they see those two guys coming. They've got to create that situation for us and put a little bit of scare in other teams when they're on the ice.”