but not because they have played poorly.Florida will play its home opener on Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. While many other NHL teams have already played three and four games this season — Columbus www.officialhurricanes.com , for example, is 2-1-0 — the Panthers are 0-0-1 and have been off since last Saturday.But the Panthers aren’t worried. They finished one point short of the playoffs last season are a trendy pick to make the postseason in 2019.Article continues below ...Even so, the Panthers are already facing adversity as starting goalie Roberto Luongo is out two-to-four weeks due to a right-knee injury. He was hurt in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning.James Reimer is expected to start on Thursday, and Michael Hutchinson was called up from the Panthers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.“No one wants to be without their No. 1 goalie, but it could have been worse,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “And we have good depth there.”The Blue Jackets are dealing with their own issues as forward Brandon Dubinsky suffered an oblique injury on Sunday and will likely miss at least four weeks.Dubinsky had brought physicality and grit to what had been Columbus’ best line in its first two games, teaming with Josh Anderson and Boone Jenner. In those two games, Dubinsky had one goal and one assist.“(The injury) is a tough break for him and for our team,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “That was our best line, and specifically him.”Columbus beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Tuesday in their first game without Dubinsky. The teams were tied 2-2 after two periods before Columbus closed with a flourish. Nick Foligno starred for the Jackets, scoring twice and adding one assist.Former Boston Bruins forward Riley Nash Carolina Hurricanes T-Shirts Authentic , signed as a free agent this past offseason, has replaced Dubinsky on that Anderson-Jenner line. He was a plus-one in 16 minutes of ice time on Tuesday.Another repercussion of the Dubinsky injury is that Lukas Sedlak — a healthy scratch the first two games — will be more involved as a fourth-line center. He got 6:47 of ice time on Tuesday, including 50 seconds on the penalty kill and 1:03 on the power play.Thursday’s lineup, however, is subject to change.“I can’t say what’s going to happen in my mind as we go through a game,” Tortorella said. “I want to keep lines together. But I also need better play from other people.”The Panthers, meanwhile, just want a victory. They played well on Saturday against the Lightning, a team favored to reach the Stanley Cup Finals this season. But Tampa Bay got a short-handed goal in the third period — Florida was using five forwards and no defensemen on its power play and got burned with that alignment — and the Lightning then won the game in the shootout.Winger Mike Hoffman, making his Panthers debut after scoring 104 goals the past four years with the Ottawa Senators, had an unlucky game. He hit the post on an overtime shot that would’ve won the game. Hoffman then hit a post again in his shootout attempt. WASHINGTON (AP) Artemi Panarin scored 6:02 into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.Panarin made an incredible individual move to drive by fellow Russian Dmitry Orlov and went backhand-to-forehand to beat Philipp Grubauer top shelf.Game 2 is Sunday night in Washington.Alexander Wennberg, Thomas Vanek and Seth Jones scored in regulation Carolina Hurricanes Hoodies Authentic , and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for Columbus, which got two power-play goals to continue a strong trend since the trade deadline.Wennberg left the game with an upper-body injury in the third period and didn’t return. Jones, son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, drew a penalty late in the third period, almost put the puck in his own net and tied it on the ensuing power play with 4:26 left in regulation to send the game to overtime.Washington got two power-play goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov on Josh Anderson’s five-minute major penalty for boarding Michal Kempny and an even-strength goal on the rush in the third period by Devante Smith-Pelly. Grubauer, who got the nod to start over 2016 Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Braden Holtby, made 23 saves in his second career playoff start.LIGHTNING 5, DEVILS 2TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Tampa Bay got early goals from four players – none of them named Nikita Kucherov or Steven Stamkos – before holding off New Jersey in Game 1.Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde scored, helping the Lightning build a 3-0 lead that New Jersey trimmed to one goal before Alex Killorn and Kucherov, who added an empty-netter Carolina Hurricanes Hats Authentic , finished off the win.Taylor Hall scored an unassisted goal in the second period, then assisted on Travis Zajac’s power-play goal that cut it to 3-2 midway through third against Andrei Vasilievskiy.Killorn’s shot over the glove of goalie Kevin Kincaid’s glove restored a two-goal lead before Kucherov, who led the Lightning with 100 points this season, ensured there would be no comeback.Vasilievskiy made 29 saves.Game 2 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.SHARKS 3, DUCKS 0ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Evander Kane scored two goals in his first career playoff game, Martin Jones made 25 saves and the Sharks beat the Ducks in their first-round series opener.Brent Burns also scored and captain Joe Pavelski had two assists during a three-goal second period to help the Sharks easily take early control in the series between California rivals. San Jose and Anaheim have been regular playoff teams for the past 15 years, yet are meeting in the postseason for only the second time.John Gibson stopped 30 shots for the Ducks, who lost a series opener at home in their third consecutive playoff series. Anaheim had won seven straight home games down the regular-season stretch, losing in regulation at home just once in 17 games since late January.Game 2 is Saturday night at Honda Center.BRUINS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 1BOSTON (AP) – Brad Marchand, David Backes and David Krejci each scored a power-play goal Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys , and Tuukka Rask stopped 26 shots in Boston’s Game 1 victory over Toronto.David Pastrnak also scored for Boston, and Sean Kuraly bunted one out of the air and into the net over goalie Frederik Andersen to make it 4-1 with seven minutes gone in the third period. Krejci bounced it in off Andersen from behind to make it 5-1 after Toronto’s Nazem Kadri was thrown out of the game and given a five-minute major for an elbow to Tommy Wingels‘ head.Zach Hyman scored Toronto’s only goal, and Andersen made 35 saves.Game 2 is Saturday night in Boston.PREDATORS 5, AVALANCHE 2NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Filip Forsberg scored twice in the third period and Nashville rallied to beat Colorado in Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference series.Pekka Rinne made 25 saves, including a handful on Colorado’s Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon.Austin Watson had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which has won 11 straight over Colorado. Craig Smith and Colton Sissons scored a goal apiece, and Ryan Johansen had two assists.Nikita Zadorov and Blake Comeau scored for Colorado.Game 2 is Saturday in Nashville.