The New York Islanders had their next two games postponed because seven players are in NHL COVID-19 protocol, the NHL announced Saturday.
The Islanders were scheduled to play at the New York Rangers on Sunday and at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Rescheduled dates for those games are to be determined.
New York had six players in protocol for a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday: forwards Anders Lee, Kieffer Bellows and Ross Johnston; and defensemen Adam Pelech, Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara. Forward Josh Bailey was removed from protocol Friday but did not play.
Casey Cizikas entered protocol Saturday, when general manager Lou Lamoriello said the forward and three others in the organization have tested positive for COVID-19.
"What we have no control of, you can't be distracted by, all you can do is just stay focused on what you do have control of," Lamoriello said Saturday. "Our coaching staff has done that, we've asked our players to do that, and I think they've done a tremendous job over these set of circumstances, starting off with being on the road, coming back and having one practice going into a new facility and then being hit with the COVID.
"You can say it's unfortunate, but I don't want to say frustrations can get in the way. Certainly everyone is human, but right now all we can do is take a step back and use these three days and get prepared for our next practice and our next game."
The Islanders practice facility will be closed for at least the next three days. If players and staff test negative three straight days, New York could resume practice Wednesday.
"Me personally, I try to text the guys, see how they're feeling every day, talk to one or two of them," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said Friday. "We've got a mixed bag in there. Some guys got hit with it hard, some guys really not a lot of symptoms but they can't get the negative test. It's all on an individual basis, really. But hopefully in the next couple of days we'll get a few more out, at least back skating. I don't know if they'll be prepared to skate or not because they've all had different degrees of it. We'll see."
The Islanders (5-10-2), who are next scheduled to play Thursday at home against the San Jose Sharks, have lost eight straight games.
"This is one of the bigger challenges," Trotz said. "We're in a real tough division (Metropolitan). Obviously, we want to do well in this rink (UBS Arena). Our fans want us [to do well], they're excited about that, and we get hit with COVID, we get hit with injuries, those type of things. Very untimely, but that's life."
The Islanders played their first 13 games on the road this season before debuting at UBS Arena on Nov. 20. They completed the four-game homestand Friday.
The NHL postponed three games earlier this season because of COVID-19 concerns. The NHL had 55 games postponed last season; all were made up as part of a 56-game schedule.
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2021-11-27 20:16:38Z
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