Tyler Seguin wasn’t the only player to have a nice night offensively and still want a play or two back. Nathan Horton, who scored the Bruins’ second goal in the second period Saturday night, fell victim to a tricky bounce that eventually led to a Radek Dvorak goal that tied the game in the third period of the team’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Panthers.

Behind Tuukka Rask’s net, Horton turned the puck over to Marty Reasoner, who fed it Dvorak.

“I don’t know [what happened],” Horton said. “I was skating back and it kind of hopped over my stick and it was a bad bounce, but hopefully that won’t happen during the year,” Horton said before cracking a smile.

Horton, the centerpiece of June’s trade that sent Dennis Wideman, the 15th overall pick in the draft, and a 2011 third-rounder to Florida, may have been given a pass given the skills he put on display Saturday night. In addition to his obvious strength, his goal was more or less a PSA on not giving him space or time to shoot given how easily he beat Scott Clemmensen from the hash marks with ample time to pick his spot top shelf.

“I  just had a little bit more time I guess and I just tried to get a better shot, a better angle,” he said. “Just luckily it went in.”

In facing his old teammates, Horton was on the ice for 19:12, starting on the team’s projected top line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci and seeing time both on the power play and penalty kill. All in all, Horton saw positives and negatives on the night, but nothing too extreme.

“I mean, obviously, it’s still preseason, so it was pretty sloppy,” Horton said, “but we need to obviously work on things and get more comfortable with guys [we're] playing with. But I think every fame is going to get better from here on in and just keep pushing hard, keep working and I think things will come together pretty quickly.

The Bruins split up into two groups that featured members of both of this preseason’s squads. Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask both took the ice, which is encouraging as we keep an eye on just how many days off Thomas gets as he recovers from offseason hip surgery.

Though it’s still preseason and the team likely isn’t done trying things out, the top two lines on the ice friday were Lucic-Krejci-Horton and Seguin-Bergeron-Recchi. It’s very difficult to imagine those not being the top two lines on Oct. 9 when the team opens the season in Prague against the Coyotes.

The other lines out there on Friday morning consisted of Gregory Campbell, Jamie Arniel and Brian McGrattan, as well as Jordan Caron, Ryan Spooner, and Max Sauve.

After a couple weeks of captain’s practices and three days of rookie skating in anticipation of Wednesday and Thursday’s victories over the Islanders youngsters, the Bruins officially open training camp on Friday morning at the Garden with fitness testing. Peter Chiarelli, Claude Julien, and the players will speak following the session, so keep it here for their comments and news as it comes.

The team has optional ice at 1:30 Friday, but that will be closed to the public and the media. For those interested in getting their first look at Nathan Horton in a Bruins uniform, camp will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday and Thursday will mark the team’s first two preseason games, when they play the Canadiens in Montreal and Panthers in Rochester. They have two home exhibitions, taking place on the 25th and 29th against the Panthers and Capitals, respectively.

WILMINGTON — The process of acclimation continues for Nathan Horton, who has been out there for each of the Bruins’ captains practice. Though he will technically be a newcomer come Friday’s opening of training camp, Horton, acquired in June from the Panthers, has been everywhere for the Bruins since arriving in town. In addition to his aforementioned attendance on the ice, he’s participated in charity events and has thrown out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

One of his more recent adventures around New England came Monday, when he and Milan Lucic delivered tickets to a season-ticket holder. Though his teammates are plenty familiar with the winger, Horton understands the fans may not quite have his mug memorized.

“We did surprise them. I’m not sure they knew somebody was coming, and then it was me and Milan,” Horton said. “[I don't think] they know my face real well, but they know him and they were pretty excited.”

Wednesday night Horton will try his luck in Marco Sturm‘s charity poker tournament. Though the getting-to-know-you process has been an enjoyable ride thus far, Horton’s ready to get down to business on Friday.

“It hasn’t started yet,” Horton said of his new job. “It’s been fun till now, but once Friday comes I think it will be a little more serious. It’s been fun though. I get to do a lot of stuff and see a lot of the things in Boston.”

BOLTON — Cam Neely and Nathan Horton could be seen talking and laughing prior to teeing off at The International for the Bruins’ annual golf tournament on Monday. For Horton, his Bruins career has consisted of throwing out a first pitch at Fenway, playing street hockey with kids, scrimmaging with no coaches, surprising season-ticket holders by delivering their tickets with Milan Lucic, and now golfing. Given his excitement to be in Boston and factoring in all the aforementioned perks, one might dare to suggest that nobody is more excited for the 2010-11 season than Horton.

Except Neely, of course.

At his formal introduction as team president this summer, Neely spoke with passion of how the fans deserved more. Now on the other side of the offseason, Neely reinforced his line of thinking that the team has “unfinished business to take care of” and noted that he feels Peter Chiarelli and co. have put together “a much better club this year.”

Though Neely praised the talents of Horton and Tyler Seguin, the offseason’s other prize, he offered a unique perspective when discussing the subject of trade talks with returning players. Names such as Michael Ryder, Tim Thomas, and most notably Marc Savard came up frequently through either reports or speculation.

“Speaking as a former player, you can’t worry about what’s out of your control. The way I looked at it when I was a player was, you hear about rumors and things that you can’t really control, you can’t worry about it.

“The only thing you can worry about are the stuff you can control, whether it’s in sports or in general. That’s how I approached it as a player and that’s how I would think most players would approach it. It’s always difficult if you hear your name mentioned in ways you don’t want it to be mentioned, but things you can’t control, you shouldn’t worry too much about.”

Neely knows a good amount about trades given the fact that he himself was dealt from the Canucks to the Bruins back in 1986. He can only hope that the team’s most recent trade for a big winger in Horton works out the way it did back then.

Someone who hasn’t played a video game in years may not have the best perspective on this, but here goes:

WEEI.com was able to get their hands on a copy on a copy of NHL ’11, the most recent edition of the popular EA Sports hockey video game. After taking a gander at the ratings of Bruins players, Boston fans should have something to say about how their team is represented.

Overall, the team is an 88. The offense is an 87 and the defense is an 85. The goaltending gets an 89.

Here are the individual ratings. First, the skaters:

Zdeno Chara: 89

Marc Savard: 88

Nathan Horton: 84

David Krejci: 83

Milan Lucic: 83

Michael Ryder: 82

Marco Sturm: 82

Mark Recchi: 82 Read the rest of this entry »

WILMINGTON — The argument against the Bruins last season was that they could not generate any offense. Given that they finished dead last in scoring in the regular season, one would have to guess that the stats were on the side of whomever would make such a claim.

But days before the team was set to draft the counterargument for the future in Tyler Seguin, they made a big splash by trading for Nathan Horton. Now the former Panthers winger is charged with being part of the group that re-establishes the Bruins as a major scoring threat. Speaking after captain’s practice on Tuesday, he looked to the team’s offensive core as something that can meet expectations in his first season as a Bruin.

“You look around and I think there’s obviously going to be high expectations on everyone,” Horton said. “It’s a great team, a great bunch of guys, and a lot of good hockey players. I think it’s great to have high expectations and I think it’s going to be a fun year.”

Horton, who has scored over 25 goals in three of his six seasons since being the third overall pick of the the 2003 draft, looks forward to whatever pressure may be placed on him and a squad that has been eliminated from two consecutive Eastern Conference semifinals.

“I grew up in Canada, so I know what that’s like, but I’m excited,” Horton said. “It’s going to be different, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. There’s pressure to perform, and I think that’s what any player wants.”

That pressure, especially in Horton’s case, could be alleviated a touch if he ends up being on a line centered by Marc Savard. The two have been discussed throughout the summer as good complements to one another, especially with Horton’s scoring touch, since the winger joined the team in June.

But it was following his arrival that rumors that Savard could be a goner via trade picked up steam. Many wondered whether the man some thought could make Horton a 40-goal scorer would be around to help potentially form a line. With Peter Chiarelli recently stating that Savard would not be traded, Horton seems that the center, who in December signed a seven-year extension, is staying.

“I don’t know who I’m playing with, but I think obviously he’s a great player,” Horton said. “He’s been a great player for a long time, he sees the ice real well and it’s tough to say, but obviously I would like to see him here. He’s been here for a while, and like I said, he’s a great player.”

Regardless of who he ends up playing with, Horton seems most excited about the team he’s playing for. Expected to contend for a Stanley Cup this season, the 2010-11 Bruins could be Horton’s first shot at the playoffs. Having to endure regular season after regular season without any postseason play has been a challenge for Horton, but with his career overdue for a run at a Cup, Horton’s glad he found his way to Boston.

“It’s been tough,” Horton said. “Seven years is a long time. It’s where you want to play the most, I think, is the playoffs. When you never get there, you don’t taste it. It’s tough, but I guess it’s a new page, a new chapter, and I couldn’t be more excited and thrilled to be here.”