Nathan Horton of Blue Jackets can make NHL history by not playing vs. Stars

Nathan Horton has a shot at becoming the answer to a vexing trivia question. (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Word out of Columbus suggests that Nathan Horton will be out of the lineup for the Blue Jackets' game against the Stars on Wednesday. In and of itself, that's hardly news. The big winger has been hampered with injuries all season. He's missed 40 games so far, four of them as a result of a lower-body issue that currently has him on the sidelines.

But here's the thing: Wednesday's game in Dallas is something out of the ordinary. It's the game that had to be suspended and rescheduled after the heart scare suffered by Rich Peverley of the Stars early in the first period.

The league has announced that a full 60-minute contest will be played on Wednesday night, but that the Jackets will keep the 1-0 lead that they held at the time Peverley collapsed on the bench.

And that goal was scored by Horton.

So what we could have here is an NHL first: a player being credited with a goal in a game in which he does not play.

There's a bit of trivia to baffle your buddies, eh?

Greg Johnson's holdover goal