Nathan Horton Dropped to Second Line As Claude Julien Reshuffles Bruins’ Top Three Forward Units

BOSTON — After falling to 2-4-0 to start the season following Tuesday's frustrating, penalty-filled 4-1 loss to Carolina, the Bruins knew they would have to make some changes.

The first differences were revealed at Wednesday's practice when coach Claude Julien reshuffled each of the top three lines. Only the "merlot line" of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton remained in their familiar maroon practice jerseys. Every other unit had at least one member pulling on a sweater of an unfamiliar color. 

"I wish I could stand here and pretend I'm a genius," Julien said. "But I don't know what I'm going to get. What I do know is that what I was getting before wasn't enough. So I just felt the need to make those changes."

Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin remained in white on the top line, but Seguin was shifted from center to right wing, with Chris Kelly donning the other white jersey to center that unit.

Nathan Horton was dropped to the second line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Horton has gotten off to a particularly slow start this season with just one goal and one assist through six games, and his undisciplined penalties for attacking Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason in the third period Tuesday proved especially costly.

David Krejci, working his way back from a core injury, alternated at center with Rich Peverley on the third line. Joining them in gray were wingers Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron.

"It's kind of exciting," Krejci said. "Any time there's something new it's always exciting. It was pretty cool to see some guys in different jerseys like Horty in yellow and I was in gray. It was a pretty interesting look and we'll see how it goes in a game."

Julien may not have all the answers to Boston's early-season struggles, but there was a method to his madness in how he reconstructed the lines.

"We've kind of put certain guys together for specific reasons," Julien said. "These guys here together might work and those guys there. It's never a bad thing to mix guys up a little bit. Sometimes it brings a burst of energy. It's a new challenge. And sometimes it makes things that are stale [fresh]. You can be a great line for a whole year, but then all of the sudden you go stale for a bit, so maybe being apart for a while will give us some life. And at the same time it might make those guys appreciate playing with each other again down the road. It's not a bad thing."

Krejci, who estimated he has a 50-50 chance of returning to the lineup on Thursday, was particularly intrigued by the possibilities that the new combinations could present.

"If you look at the lines, I don't know if I'll play [Thursday], but I would be with Pevs, and I played with him in the [Stanley Cup] Finals and I believe there's some chemistry there," Krejci said. "And Bergy and Marsh are still on the same line and Looch and Segs have played the last few games together. There is some chemistry so hopefully each line can find it and the puck goes in the net [Thursday] and we can win."

Bruins practice lines:

White: Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-TylerSeguin
Yellow: Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Nathan Horton
Gray: Benoit Pouliot-David Krejci/Rich Peverley-Jordan Caron
Maroon: Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton