Ducks, Kings among 14 postponed games as NHL delays return until at least Tuesday

The NHL pushed backmost its instrumentality from an already extended vacation interruption an other time by postponing its full 14-game Monday schedule, including games involving the Ducks and Kings, for COVID-19 investigating reasons.

The league said Friday it present plans to resume play Tuesday successful a determination that increases the full of postponed games to 64 this season.

The Ducks were to big the San Jose Sharks connected Monday nighttime astatine Honda Center, portion the Kings had a roadworthy crippled against the Arizona Coyotes. The Ducks’ adjacent scheduled crippled is present Wednesday nighttime astatine location against the Vancouver Canucks. The Kings are scheduled to big the Vegas Golden Knights connected Tuesday nighttime astatine Crypto.com Arena.

Teams are inactive scheduled to resume practicing Sunday, but won’t beryllium allowed to instrumentality the crystal until players, coaches and traveling officials are cleared pursuing a circular of COVID-19 tests. The determination to hold the resumption of play volition let what the NHL called “an capable accidental to analyse league-wide investigating results and to measure clubs’ readiness to play.”

The NHL said it volition supply further updates connected its instrumentality to play plans Sunday.

The determination comes aft the NHL opened its yearly vacation interruption connected Wednesday, 2 days earlier than scheduled, due to the fact that of a important leap successful players landing successful the league’s COVID-19 protocols, and with 10 teams’ schedules paused.

The abrupt rash of postponed games besides led the NHL to workout its close to withdraw from participating successful the Winter Olympics in February. The league volition alternatively usage its antecedently scheduled Olympic break, which runs from Feb. 6-22, to marque up its postponed games successful bid to implicit an 82-game season.

“While the league hold is unfortunate, we afloat expect to beryllium backmost successful enactment connected Wednesday, Dec. 29, and look guardant to seeing our fans astatine Honda Center,” the Ducks said successful a statement.

The NHL updated its COVID protocols recently, bringing backmost regular investigating and masks wrong squad facilities for vaccinated players.