The Sabres-Islanders game that was set to take place Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum has been postponed.
According to the NHL, COVID protocols have forced the postponement with a rescheduled date to be announced at a later time. While they are schedule to play Thursday on Long Island, a makeup game won’t necessarily take place Wednesday or Friday.
Due to a snowstorm in the Northeast, the Sabres decided to fly out Tuesday morning rather than Monday. That altered schedule changed how COVID contact tracing and testing protocols could be done so the decision was made to cancel the game.
The Sabres most recently played the Devils on Saturday and Sunday and New Jersey saw 10 players on Monday’s list of NHL players unavailable due to COVID protocols. That led to the postponement of the Devils’ next three games.
New Jersey is scheduled to resume play next Tuesday at home against Pittsburgh. They were set to play in Pittsburgh Tuesday and Thursday before returning home for a Saturday game against the Rangers at Prudential Center. As of now, they will remain in Pittsburgh.
The NHL has now postponed 15 games this seasons, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.
UPDATE: The NHL has postponed Sabres’ games through “at least” Feb. 8:The decision was made by the League’s, NHLPA’s and Club’s medical groups, who determined that more caution was warranted while the League continues to analyze test results in the coming days.
The team’s training facilities have been closed, effective immediately, and will remain closed until further notice. The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Sabres’ regular season schedule and it is expected that a decision on next week’s games will be made in the coming days. The Sabres’ organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and national agencies.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.