The Flyers will be heading to Lake Tahoe on Friday shorthanded.
Head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed Thursday that all seven players currently on the NHL’s COVID protocols list will not make the trip to play the Bruins on Sunday (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN). That means Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, Jakub Voracek will miss out.
After being off since Feb. 7 due to COVID issues, the Flyers host the Rangers Thursday before the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe game. According to Bill Meltzer, this will be the first time since March 1, 2009 that they will be without Giroux and Voracek for a game. The captain’s consecutive games played streak of 328 will come to an end.
[Your 2020-21 NHL on NBC TV schedule]
Following their outdoor game on Sunday, the Flyers will then return home to host the Rangers next Wednesday before traveling to Buffalo for a back-to-back next weekend.
The Bruins, meanwhile, announced that Tuukka Rask will get the start in goal on Sunday. It will be his third NHL outdoor game appearance.
NBC Sports presents the NHL Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe this weekend on NBC, beginning with Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche facing Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, and Kevin Hayes and the Philadelphia Flyers against David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Both games will take place on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort Golf Course.
NBC Sports will premiere Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey, Presented by Discover – detailing the illustrious career of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and eight-time Sports Emmy Award winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick – on Sunday, February 21 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC.
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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.