The Dallas Stars are still waiting to start their season thanks to a COVID-19 outbreak in training camp and now another game will be postponed thanks to the protocols. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the Carolina-Nashville game scheduled for this evening will be postponed because of a coronavirus situation with the Hurricanes. The league has released a short statement explaining the decision:
The National Hockey League today announced that Game #52, Carolina Hurricanes at Nashville Predators, scheduled for tonight, has been postponed. The rescheduled date of Game #52 will be announced when available.
The decision was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel and in consultation with medical experts.
Jordan Staal has been on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list for the last two games, though it’s not clear if that is related to this latest situation. Sara Civian of The Athletic tweets that Hurricanes GM Don Waddell told her three players have tested positive for COVID-19, but that one is a false positive.
Important to note that the Florida Panthers, who already had two games postponed at the beginning of the season thanks to the Stars outbreak, were supposed to visit Carolina to take on the Hurricanes twice starting Thursday. It’s not clear if those games are in danger at this point. The Tampa Bay Lightning, the other team affected by the Stars situation, were supposed to be in Carolina next Tuesday for the first of two games.
The Hurricanes played last night against the Predators in Nashville.