The Boston Bruins arrived in Buffalo coming off a needed 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They entered wait and see mode following late morning developments within their group and with their scheduled opponent for Thursday, the lowly Sabres.
The Bruins and Sabres both canceled their morning skates at KeyBank Center as certain members of their respective squads entered COVID-19 protocol. Neither team listed specific names, though the Bruins confirmed one of their players entered COVID protocol through their Twitter account.
A member of Buffalo’s coaching staff also entered COVID Protocol earlier in the morning as confirmed by Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
The league hasn’t confirmed the status of the Bruins-Sabres scheduled tilt. Both teams await rapid testing results. Sportsnet’s John Shannon tweeted the game was postponed. He backtracked that status in a follow-up tweet.
The Sabres, losers of 12 straight, encountered a significant COVID outbreak earlier in the season. They had a handful of games rescheduled, including a pair with the Bruins in February.
The injury-riddled Bruins haven’t faced the Sabres yet this season. The latter squad fired former coach Ralph Kruger less than 24 hours ago. The two teams also have a meeting scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Update 2:15 p.m.
Following rapid testing, the Bruins and Sabres confirmed the game will go on for now. The Bruins scheduled a 5:45 press conference for head coach Bruce Cassidy. We’ll have another update if things change but for now it appears we’ll have a 7 p.m. puck drop in Buffalo.
Update 5:40 p.m.
Sean Kuraly was the lone Bruin on the league’s daily COVID-19 protocol list. No Sabres player was on the list.
Kuraly joins Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier, Islanders defenseman Noah Gibson and Rangers left winger Philip Di Giuseppe.
Update 6:02 p.m.
The game will go on as scheduled barring any last-minute developments.
With Kuraly out, Greg McKegg will slot in on the fourth line, centering Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman. Defenseman Jack Achan will make his NHL debut with Jared Tinordi nursing an upper-body injury after colliding with Brandon Tanev in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
The Bruins hoped to have Kevan Miller aboard for the Buffalo leg of the four-game trip. He’s still at home and won’t return to the lineup for the pair with the lowly Sabres.
Jaroslav Halak gets the nod between the pipes against his ‘former’ team. Dan Vladar will serve as the backup. Tuukka Rask, still recovering from a lingering injury sustained nearly two weeks ago against the Devils, could get the nod for Saturday’s 1 p.m tilt according to Cassidy. Rask will return to the ice on Friday for the team’s practice session in Western New York.
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