Blue Jackets at Panthers
Although the Florida Panthers earned a point in a season-opening shootout loss at intrastate rival Tampa Bay, it came at a hefty price. Starting netminder Roberto Luongo exited the game with a knee injury and is expected to miss at least two to four weeks for Florida, which hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night in its home opener.
The Panthers will celebrate the 25th year of the franchise in pregame ceremonies as they look to build on the dominance they established last season at BB&T Center. “We were a good home team last year, and we want to remain that way.” Florida coach Bob Boughner said in reference to the stellar 27-11-3 home mark from 2017-18. Columbus rebounded from its first loss by scoring three unanswered goals in the third period of Tuesday's 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. "No matter what's going on in a game, you just got to find a way to win a period sometimes," Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno. "That's how you win in this league is just finding a way."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), FS Florida
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (2-1-0): Columbus also suffered a key injury when forward Brandon Dubinsky strained an oblique muscle in practice that is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks. Riley Nash replaced Dubinsky as the third-line center for the Blue Jackets, who are also without defenseman Seth Jones, out with a knee injury. “You lift each other up when guys go down," said Foligno. "Just like guys have done on the back end, jumping in for (Jones), we’re going to do the same thing for (Dubinsky) up front.”
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (0-0-1): The Panthers missed the playoffs by only one point last season despite Luongo playing in fewer than half their games, so they will again lean on James Reimer, who was 22-14-6 with a 2.99 goals-against average in 2017-18. Reimer has struggled against the Blue Jackets throughout his career, posting a 2-6-1 mark and 3.62 goals-against average in nine starts. Rookie Jacob MacDonald supplied Florida's lone tally in the opener, calling it a "dream" after scoring his first NHL goal on his first shift.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky has dominated Florida with a 12-1-2 record and 1.87 goals-against average.
2. The Panthers recalled G Michael Hutchinson from Springfield of the American Hockey League to replace Luongo.
3. Columbus assigned D Gabriel Carlsson to Cleveland of the AHL.