The Devils meet the Sabres in the Czech capital to open the NHL regular season

PRAGUE (AP) — Ondrej Palat has won the Stanley Cup twice. He's won a gold medal with the Czech Republic at the world championships.

This week, the forward will check another item on his bucket list when his New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres open the NHL regular season with two games in Prague.

“I have been fortunate enough to realize many of my dreams in hockey,” Palat said. “But to play an NHL hockey game in my beloved Czechia is something I’ve never imagined.”

The NHL global series games on Friday and Saturday will bring the number of regular season games hosted by Prague to nine. Stockholm, Sweden, is the only location outside North America that has had more.

Two more international games will be played in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 when defending Stanley Cup champion Florida face the Dallas Stars.

Palat said traveling together for overseas games can be a good team-building experience. Five years ago, he was part of the Tampa Bay Lightning who swept a two-game series against the Sabres in Stockholm. The team went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and again the following year.

“With Tampa, the trip to Stockholm was great for us,” Palat said. “We had some fun and it translated on the ice and we played great. We need to do (something) a little bit similar. We’re going to have some fun but also it’s a business trip and we need to start good the season.”

Hockey-crazed Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic have been the go-to destinations for NHL regular season games overseas in recent years. Together with Russia, those countries account for the bulk of the European players in the league.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in August that the league wants to expand to other markets and mentioned Germany, Switzerland and Britain as possibilities. London had two regular season games in 2007 and Berlin one in 2011. Switzerland has never hosted a regular-season game.

The Devils have previously played in Europe; in 2018 they beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Sabres have played four. Before the losses to Tampa in 2019, they won twice in 2011 against the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in Helsinki and the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 in Berlin. They played an exhibition game in Munich last week.

Czech NHL players are hugely popular at home and the presence of Palat and Sabres rookie forward Jiri Kulich ensures that Prague’s O2 Arena will be packed this weekend. Palat was on the Czech team that beat Switzerland to win the worlds in the same arena in May.

The Devils signed Palat, who has 101 career postseason points, to a five-year, $30 million contract in 2022, eager to tap his playoffs experience. However, they failed to make the playoffs last spring for the 10th time in 12 seasons.

Sheldon Keefe, who coached the Toronto Maple Leafs to the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, was hired by the Devils to make a difference.

“We’re still learning for sure, but guys want to learn, get better and want to build something sustainable here, recognizing it’s not going to happen overnight,” Keefe said.

The Sabres hope to end a 13-season playoff drought. Coach Lindy Ruff, who guided them to their last postseason in 2011, is back after he was fired by New Jersey. During his previous stint from 1997-2012, Buffalo advanced eight times and reached the Stanley Cup final in 1999.

Ruff needs to improve the offense that produced 2.98 goals per game — 23rd in the league.

The good news for the Sabres is that Jack Quinn is fit after injuries limited him to 27 games last season, and nine goals and 10 assists.

“With the injuries and everything I just haven’t been able to take the steps I’ve wanted as a player yet,” Quinn said. “I feel like last year I would have been able to if I wasn’t injured, so I’m on a mission to do that this year.”

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New Jersey Devils' attend a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

New Jersey Devils' players pose for a photo ahead of a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

New Jersey Devils' attend a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

New Jersey Devils' Ondřej Palat speeds up during a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

FILE - New Jersey Devils NHL hockey team new head coach Sheldon Keefe answers questions from reporters during press conference Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray, File)

Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey team head coach Lindy Ruff watches from the bench during an ice hockey match against Red Bull Munich in Munich, Germany, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.(Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

Buffalo Sabres' Noah Ostlund (36) is surrounded by teammates after his goal to defeat the Ottawa Senators in preseason NHL hockey game action in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

New Jersey Devils goalie Isaac Poulter stands on the ice during the second period of an NHL preseason hockey game against the New York Rangers, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New Jersey Devils' Jakub Zboril, left, and New York Rangers' Will Cuylle, right, chase after the puck during the third period of an NHL preseason hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Ottawa Senators' Adam Gaudette (81) scores against Buffalo Sabres goaltender Felix Sandstrom (32) during third-period preseason NHL hockey game action in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey players celebrate a goal during an ice hockey match against Red Bull Munich in Munich, Germany, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.(Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

New Jersey Devils' players arrive for a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

New Jersey Devils' listen to their coaches during a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

New Jersey Devils' Ondřej Palat takes a shot during a practice session, a day before their NHL hockey game against Buffalo Sabres, in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital.

There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed.

In a separate development, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of villages and towns in southern Lebanon that are north of a United Nations-declared buffer zone established after the 2006 war. The warnings issued Thursday signaled a possible broadening of Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon, which until now has been confined to areas close to the border.

At least eight Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The region was meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following strike in Beirut, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs, without providing evidence. Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hezbollah has an armed wing with tens of thousands of fighters but it also has a political movement and a network of charities staffed by civilians.

In a separate development, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they had launched two drones at Tel Aviv overnight. The military said it identified two drones off the coast of the bustling metropolitan area, shooting one of them down while the other fell in the Mediterranean Sea.

The escalating violence in Lebanon has opened a second front in the war between Israel and Iran-backed militants that began nearly a year ago with Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip around three months ago. It said that a strike on an underground compound in northern Gaza killed Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Mushtaha was a close associate of Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack. Sinwar is believed to be alive and in hiding inside Gaza.

In recent weeks, Israelis strikes in Lebanon have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders. Hundreds more airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon since mid-September have killed at least 1,276 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it had struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts. It said the strikes killed at least 15 Hezbollah fighters. There was no independent confirmation.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, as Israel has warned people to evacuate from around 50 villages and towns in the south, telling them to relocate to areas that are around 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and considerably farther north than a U.N.-declared buffer zone.

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah after nearly a year of rocket attacks that began on Oct. 8 and have displaced some 60,000 Israelis from communities in the north. Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes over the past year that have displaced tens of thousands on the Lebanese side.

The vast majority of recent strikes have been in areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, including the southern suburbs of Beirut known as the Dahiyeh. But Israel has also carried out strikes in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and a strike in central Beirut earlier this week killed three Palestinian militants.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are part of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which also includes armed groups in Syria and Iraq. They have launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians, drawing retaliation in a cycle that has repeatedly threatened to set off a wider war.

The region once again appears on the brink of such a conflict after Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday, which it said was a response to the killing of Nasrallah, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who was with him, and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, who was killed in an explosion in Tehran in July that was widely blamed on Israel.

Both Israel and the United States have said there will be severe consequences for the missile attack, which lightly wounded two people and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank. The United States has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel.

Jeffery reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press staff writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Zeina Karam in London contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A man documents the damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A woman reacts in front an apartment in a multistory building hit by Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hezbollah paramedic stuff left on the debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hezbollah paramedics walk between debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese women stand in front an apartment in a multistory building hit by Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)