National Hockey

CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard played in his first preseason game with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night, and fans of the Original Six franchise were ready. So was Bedard, who had two assists in Chicago's 2-1 overtime win over the St.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to miss the first two months of the NHL season after undergoing back surgery.

CALGARY — The wife of Chris Snow says the Calgary Flames vice-president of data and analytics suffered a "catastrophic" brain injury after going into cardiac arrest and isn't expected to recover.

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid was having a quiet game by his standards Wednesday night, but the Edmonton Oilers captain was a factor when it mattered the most.

WINNIPEG — Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf handled an escalating workload and a shootout in a 3-2 pre-season win over the host Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

MONTREAL — Mathieu Joseph sure seems like a player Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith wants to keep around.

ST. THOMAS, Ont. — Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Conor Timmins scored twice and had two assists in a 5-2 pre-season win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday in St. Thomas, Ont.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mikael Backlund signed a two-year, $9-million extension with the Calgary Flames and was named captain, the team announced Wednesday. Backlund would have become an unrestricted free agent next summer without an extension.

CALGARY — The Calgary Flames didn't have a captain last season, but to many players, Mikael Backlund was the de facto leader of the team.

Calgary Flames winger Jakob Pelletier is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left shoulder next week and will be out indefinitely.