The Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers have had games postponed through the NHL holiday break because of COVID-19 concerns.
Colorado had four games scheduled before the break: at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, at the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, at the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. Wednesday and at the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Florida had been scheduled to play three games: at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and at home against the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
The Calgary Flames also have had games postponed through the break. They were scheduled to play at home against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
The Flames previously had four games postponed: against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 13th, Nashville Predators on December 14th, Toronto Maple Leafs on December 16th and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
No makeup dates for the games have been announced.
Each team is scheduled to next play December 27th: the Avalanche at the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers at the Carolina Hurricanes and the Flames at home against the Edmonton Oilers.
Colorado has five players in NHL COVID-19 protocol: forwards Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher, defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews and goalie Darcy Kuemper. Florida has seven players in protocol: forwards Ryan Lomberg, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Frank Vatrano, and defensemen Radko Gudas and Aaron Ekblad.
The Flames added forward Mikael Backlund and a member of their support staff to COVID-19 protocol Friday, bringing their total to 19 players, three coaches and nine support staff members.
There have been 20 games postponed this season, including the Boston Bruins at the Montreal Canadiens scheduled for Saturday. It has not been rescheduled.
The Carolina Hurricanes had their game at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday postponed. It has not been rescheduled.
The New York Islanders had games postponed for November 28th (New York Rangers, rescheduled for March 17th) and November 30th (Flyers, not yet rescheduled). The Ottawa Senators had games postponed for November 16th (New Jersey Devils), November 18th (Predators), and November 20th (Rangers). The game against New Jersey was played December 6th; Ottawa won 3-2. The other two games have yet to be rescheduled.
The NHL had 55 games postponed last season; all were made up as part of a 56-game schedule.
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