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The Florida Panthers are off to a slow start this season — 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 , 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 , 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. COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In just his second game back after a nearly 10-month absence , Corey Crawford showed he is already in top form.Crawford stopped 37 shots to get his first win since late December, and Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist, as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 Saturday night.“It was nice to see him play like that,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was vintage (Crawford).“(He) is under the radar. … We value his contribution to the success of this team, to keep us in games, winning games for us. He is as good as there is in the game.”Crawford was playing his second game since a season-ending concussion suffered in a win at New Jersey last Dec. 23. He gave up three goals on 30 shots in Chicago’s 4-1 loss at home to Arizona on Thursday night.Crawford said despite his lengthy break, he felt as comfortable as ever in net.“It felt really good,” Crawford said. “I think everyone was playing hard, rebounding, taking away sticks. It was a great effort by everyone.”Alex DeBrincat and Marcus Kruger also scored for Chicago, which earned a point for the sixth time in seven games (4-1-2).Zach Werenski scored for Columbus and Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 22 saves.With the score tied 1-1, the Blue Jackets appeared to take the lead late in the first period when Boone Jenner forced the puck low past Crawford on the left side Anaheim Ducks T-Shirts Womens , but the goal was waved off for pushing the goalie into the net.Kruger put the Blackhawks ahead for good when he tipped a wrister from Alexander Fortin past Bobrovsky at 7:43 of the third.“I thought we played a really good hockey game, our best of the year,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “We just lost our patience the last five minutes.”Kane then got his sixth goal of the season from the middle of the left circle with 4:14 left, after a costly turnover in the neutral zone by Columbus’ Cam Atkinson.Kane’s empty netter with 1:37 remaining capped the scoring.The Blackhawks got on the board at 3:48 of the first period with their first shot of the game, as DeBrincat buried a pass from Dominik Kahun from the front of the net. The goal extended DeBrincat’s scoring streak to seven games.The Jackets pulled even when penalties to the Blackhawks’ Henri Jokiharju and Atkinson opened up the ice for Werenski, who carried the puck from the red line and fired a wrister that beat Crawford with 7:51 left in the opening period.“Their goalie was hot, and we weren’t bearing down,” Werenski said. “We weren’t hungry enough. We played a pretty good hockey game. We just have to be hungry around the net.”NOTES: Kane and DeBrincat are now tied for the Blackhawks’ lead in goals (7) and points (11). … Brandon Davidson, a veteran of 152 NHL games with Edmonton, Montreal and New York Islanders, made his Blackhawks debut. …. Columbus has scored in six of its seven first periods this season. … Bobrovsky was playing in his 400th career NHL game. His career record fell to 220-132-36.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Host Tampa Bay on Sunday.Blue Jackets: Host Arizona on Tuesday.