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COVID-19 concerns force postponement of Capitals-Flyers

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The NHL is temporarily pausing its season due to a rising number of positive COVID-19 cases around the league.

Tuesday’s Capitals-Flyers game has been called off, the NHL announced. COVID-19 issues affecting the Capitals is what prompted the league to postpone its 50th game this season.

No makeup date has been announced.

Nickas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie were already in COVID-19 protocol and during Tuesday’s morning skate Justin Schultz and Daniel Sprong were pulled off the ice.

This news means that there is only one game left on Tuesday’s schedule -- Lightning at Golden Knights -- before the league begins its holiday break early. Though there is a sense that that game could also be postponed as those teams await their daily COVID-19 test results.

The NHL had announced that it will pause the season beginning Wednesday with players able to return to team facilities on Sunday as long they test negative. Games are expected to resume on Monday, Dec. 27.

Forty-three games have been postponed since Dec. 13 and over 140 players and staff members are in COVID-19 protocol as of Tuesday.

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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.