BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres' forwards Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner have been placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
The team made the announcement Tuesday morning.
They join forward Vinnie Hinostroza, who was placed on the protocol on Monday.
The NHL has been plagued by COVID outbreaks on several teams.
The Sabres games against the Columbus Bluejackets on Monday and Wednesday were postponed due to a COVID outbreak, as were several other games on Wednesday.
The league and the NHL Players Association also agreed to postpone five games on Thursday. All teams will be off through Saturday and return return back to work on Sunday.
Because so many teams are affected by the COVID-19, the NHL has also postponed any cross-border games through the holiday break because of COVID-19 concerns.
Several teams have been shut down through the holiday break due to COVID-19 outbreaks, including Columbus, Montreal, Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Nashville, Calgary, Colorado and Florida.
"Although there has been a recent increase in positive COVID test results among players, coaches and hockey staff, there have been a low number of positive cases that have resulted in concerning symptoms or serious illness," the NHL said in a statement. "Therefore, the NHLPA's and NHL's medical experts have determined that, with virtually all players and club hockey staff fully vaccinated, the need to temporarily shut down individual teams should continue to be made on a case-by-case basis. The effects of recently introduced enhanced prevention and detection measures will be evaluated daily. The NHL and NHLPA, along with their medical experts, will be monitoring not only the number and pattern of positive COVID results, but also the depth of club lineups so as to ensure both the health and safety of the players and the integrity of League competition."
The NHL says they will review the regular season schedule to see where they can make up games.
