Senators set to return to the ice tonight with eight players in COVID protocol

OTTAWA -

The Ottawa Senators are set to hit the ice at Canadian Tire Centre for two games this weekend, despite eight players and a coach in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

The Senators are scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. Saturday, and face the Calgary Flames at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

No new players were added to the COVID-19 protocol on Friday for the first time in five days.  The Senators cancelled practice on Friday for the third time this week.

Over the past week, nine players and assistant coach Jack Capuano have been placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Defenceman Nikita Zaitsev was placed in the COVID-19 protocol one hour before the Senators game against Los Angeles Thursday night. On Saturday morning, the team announced that Zaitsev had been removed from the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

All members with the Ottawa Senators are vaccinated and at last count, only four players across the NHL have not been vaccinated. 

TSN 1200 Senators play-by-play commentator Dean Brown says the NHL would decide whether any games are postponed.

"It's almost on a case-by-case basis by the league," said Brown about the possibility of cancelling games. "We haven't seen anything where you get to this number and this happens."

The players and coaches are being tested every day.

“The team is going through the normal protocols that the league requires them to go through with testing and every player is testing every day now,” says Brown, adding this includes himself as well as any member travelling with the organization. “The league is monitoring the situation.”

In a pre-game interview, head coach D.J. Smith said he recently spoke with the team regarding the COVID-19 situation.

"The big thing for me was there's no blame to be had of how this virus ended up with us and continues to spread," he said. "I know the doctors are doing everything they can to separate guys. We're not practicing. We're doing everything we can to get through this together."

The Senators players in NHL protocol are:

• Alex Formenton
• Matt Murray
• Victor Mete
• Josh Brown
• Connor Brown
• Dylan Gambrell
• Nick Holden
• Austin Watson

The Penguins, which have also been dealing with COVID-19, announced Saturday that Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin have exited the COVID-19 protocol. They will not be skating against Ottawa but they are expected to rejoin the team Sunday when they face the Washington Capitals. Head coach Mike Sullivan is also out of the protocol and is slated to be behind the bench on Sunday.