Bruins-Panthers getting set for Game 1. Canucks-Oilers ready to open their series

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The season for the Florida Panthers cannot end on Wednesday night. It’s not an elimination game, the Boston Bruins cannot close them out and no matter what happens there’s a flight to Massachusetts on Thursday and another game there on Friday.

So, it’s not a must-win.

The Panthers might feel otherwise.

Game 2 of Panthers-Bruins is Wednesday night, with Boston looking to go up 2-0 in the NHL second-round playoff series. Florida has trailed a playoff matchup 2-0 on five occasions in its history and hasn’t rallied to win any of them — the Panthers were swept by Colorado in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, swept by New Jersey in the first round in 2000, lost in six games to Tampa Bay in the 2021 first round, got swept by the Lightning in the second round in 2022 and lost last year’s Final to Vegas in five games.

“Nobody's gone 16-0 as far as I know,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday. “So, everybody's going to suffer ... you rebound and you learn from it.”

Florida-Boston is the first of two NHL playoff games on Wednesday’s schedule. It’ll be followed by Game 1 of Vancouver-Edmonton in a Western Conference second-round series, with the Canucks having home-ice advantage in that matchup.

Vancouver swept Edmonton in all four regular-season meetings, though three of those games were during the Oilers' horrid 3-9-1 start that led to the firing of coach Jay Woodcroft.

“We’re going into Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "We don’t care about what happened in the regular season. And I bet you that they don’t either, as much as you think. We’re a different team now. It’s going to be tight-checking, with two really good teams going at it. The team that plays better hockey will win.”

The Oilers hope their regular-season fortunes change.

The Panthers desperately need the same to happen.

Boston is now 5-0-0 against the Panthers this season, the most recent — and most emphatic — of those wins coming by a 5-1 count in Game 1 on Monday night behind 38 saves from Jeremy Swayman. Only two teams have gone 6-0-0 in their first six matchups of a season against Florida, those clubs being the 2006-07 Atlanta Thrashers and the 2009-10 Washington Capitals.

“I thought our effort was good," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought we were physical. I don’t think our execution was close to where it needs to be.”

Maybe so, but Swayman being in the zone solves a lot of problems.

If he starts Game 2, it'll be his seventh consecutive start — which would be the longest by any Bruins goaltender since Tuukka Rask started the last 11 games of the 2020-21 season. Swayman has a 1.42 GAA in seven playoff games this season.

“You've got to give him credit," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. "You know, there’s always areas where you can try and make it more challenging on a goalie. And that’s certainly what we’re going to try and do moving forward.”

The Oilers face the Canucks in the first playoff series between two Canadian teams since 2022, when Edmonton beat archrival Calgary in five games to advance to the Western Conference final. Edmonton is favored, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, to beat Vancouver this time, too.

That’s likely because of how dominant Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s team looked in dispatching Los Angeles in five games in the first round. McDavid leads all playoff scorers with 12 points, Draisaitl has 10 and Edmonton went 5 for 12 on the power play and 10 for 10 on the penalty kill.

But the Canucks, coached by Jack Adams Award finalist Rick Tocchet, are no slouch, either. They overcame losing Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender Thatcher Demko and backup Casey DeSmith to injury in beating Nashville, with rookie Arturs Silovs stepping in and stopping 75 of the 80 shots he faced.

AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl (29), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) and Zach Hyman (18) celebrate a goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, on Wednesday May 1, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov (91) congratulates center Pius Suter (24) after his goal against the Nashville Predators during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Friday, May 3, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The Canucks won 1-0 winning the series four games to two. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (91) attempts a shot at Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) as he is pursued by right wing David Pastrnak (88) during the third period of Game 1 of the second-round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Boston Bruins goaltenders Jeremy Swayman, left, Linus Ullmark celebrate after the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 1 of the second-round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating.

Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition.

Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a "forest."

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

FILE- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd during the funeral ceremony of the victims of Wednesday's bomb explosion in the city of Kerman about 510 miles (820 kms) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Jan. 5, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)