The Bruins have had another game postponed. The NHL announced Sunday night that Wednesday's game in Ottawa is one of three additional games around the league this week that have been postponed "for COVID-related reasons."
The Bruins have now had six straight games postponed. Their next scheduled game will now be Saturday, Jan. 1 against the Buffalo Sabres, more than two weeks since they last played on Dec. 16.
The Bruins got seven players back from the COVID list for Sunday's practice -- their first practice in over a week -- but they also placed Charlie Coyle in protocol. Taylor Hall, Brandon Carlo and Oskar Steen remain in protocol as well.
Having their first game back be in Ottawa was not going to be ideal, because some of the players who have been cleared to practice and play in the United States still may not have been cleared to cross the border into Canada.
While this latest postponement could help the Bruins in that respect, it also adds yet another game they need to make up relative to the rest of the league.
The Bruins are already tied for the fewest games played this season with 26 (most of the league is in the 29-31 range) thanks to a bizarre early-season schedule, and now they'll be starting back up several days later than just about every other team.
The NHL picks back up beginning Tuesday, so most teams -- barring any more postponements -- will play two games before the Bruins get going again on Saturday.
No makeup dates have been announced for any of the Bruins' six postponed games. The NHL is planning to use the month of February -- originally left open for the Olympics that NHL players are no longer playing in -- to make up many of this past week's postponed games.
