The NHL announced Thursday afternoon that it has had to postpone another game on the schedule for this week.
Thursday’s game between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings has been postponed due to COVID issues within the Ducks organization. The game will now be played on Sunday instead of Thursday.
That announcement came on the same day that the Ducks placed Hampus Lindholm, John Gibson, Sam Carrick and Vinni Lettieri into the league’s COVID protocols.
Forward Trevor Zegras was removed from the protocol and skated on Thursday for the first time since he went out of the lineup, but he was not expected to play on Thursday. The NHL is now closing in on 100 postponements this season. Makeup dates have yet to be announced for almost all of them.
Blues put three players in protocol, including Tarasenko
The St. Louis Blues announced on Thursday that three players have been placed into the league’s COVID protocols with Vladimir Tarasenko, Scott Perunovich and Jake Walman going in. The Blues played on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, losing a 5-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tarasenko has been one of the Blues’ best players this season and is having a huge bounce back season after fighting through injuries the previous two seasons. The Blues have been one of the league’s best teams, and one of the league’s best offensive teams, thanks in large part to his play.
Canadiens pause all team activities through January 8
The Montreal Canadiens have extended their organizational pause through until Saturday, January 8, as they continue to deal with COVID issues at the NHL and AHL levels.
The NHL has already postponed Canadiens home games at the Bell Centre on January 4, 6, 8, 10 and 15 due to attendance restrictions in the province. Montreal’s next scheduled game is on January 12 at the Boston Bruins.
At this point the Canadiens are expected to return to practice on Sunday, January 9.
The Canadiens have played just three games since December 16, with their most recent game coming on January 1 against the Florida Panthers.
Canucks place Elias Pettersson in COVID protocol
What has already been a tough season for the Canucks star became a little more frustrating on Wednesday night when Elias Pettersson was placed into the league’s COVID protocols. He has been working hard to regain his confidence recently under new coach Bruce Boudreau following an unexpected slow start to the season. As of Thursday he has just six goals and 11 assists (17 total points) in 34 games this season.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.