Horton day to day for Bruins after being injured in Game 1 of Cup finals against Chicago

CHICAGO – Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton is day to day after leaving Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals because of an injury.

A part of Boston’s top line, Horton was injured during Wednesday’s 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Game 2 is Saturday at the United Center, and coach Claude Julien said Thursday the Bruins are “keeping our fingers crossed” that he won’t miss any time.

He said he’s “not going there” when asked what Boston will do if Horton is unavailable because “that decision hasn’t been made.”

Horton got tangled with Blackhawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson with about seven minutes remaining in the first OT. He skated off the ice and headed to the locker room.

Losing Horton would be a big blow for the Bruins. He has seven goals and 11 assists in the playoffs and leads the league at plus-22 in the post-season. He also suffered a concussion during Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals against Vancouver and missed the rest of the series as the Bruins went on to win the championship.

“He’s a guy that’s been coming up big for us in the playoffs,” defenceman Torey Krug said. “To not have him in the rest of that game definitely hurt us. But we have confidence in our guys.”