More games postponed! Taylor Hall and a total of 16 players added to protocol list

Tuesday’s game between the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders has been postponed due to the league’s COVID Protocol. The postponement comes after the New Jersey Devils had their games through Feb. 6 postponed on Monday due to placing 10 players in the COVID-19 protocol. The Sabres played the Devils in back-to-back games over the weekend.

Now the National Hockey League has just announced that Sabres games have been postponed at least through Monday, Feb. 8 as a result of two Sabres players entering the NHL’s COVID protocols. Taylor Hall and Rasmus Ristolainen are the two players in Buffalo. 

On top of that, the Devils revealed that they now have 14 players on the NHL’s COVID Protocol list: Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Aaron Dell, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Pavel Zacha and Travis Zajac.

Goalie MacKenzie Blackwood actually came off the COVID Protocol list today. Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith and Matt Tennyson were added.

Here is the full statement from the NHL: 

"The National Hockey League announced today that Buffalo Sabres games have been postponed at least through Feb. 8 as a result of two Players entering the NHL’s COVID Protocols.  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."