The NHL announced Friday that the Bruins’ next two games have been postponed, the result of four additional Boston players entering the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
Saturday’s road game (March 20) against the Buffalo Sabres and next Tuesday’s home game (March 23) against the New York Islanders have been postponed, with no makeup dates yet announced.
The Bruins are expected to reopen their facilities for practice on Wednesday, March 24, pending test results in the coming days.
This news comes one day after the Bruins defeated the Sabres 4-1 on Thursday night in Buffalo. That game took place on the heels of both teams cancelling their morning skates due to Boston center Sean Kuraly entering the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
The four Bruins players who joined Kuraly in the protocol Friday, per NHL.com: David Pastrnak, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Craig Smith.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said before Thursday’s game he was hopeful Kuraly’s test was a false positive — something that’s happened with both Charlie Coyle and DeBrusk this season — and that everyone else had tested negative to that point.
Next Tuesday’s game against the Islanders was supposed to mark the beginning of an eight-game homestand and be the first game that fans were allowed to attend at TD Garden this season.
The Bruins currently are scheduled to host the Islanders next Thursday night, before then welcoming the Sabres to Boston for a matinee showdown on Saturday, March 27.
