Unconfirmed report has Vegas pulling player during 2nd period due to positive COVID test
The Vegas Golden Knights have already endured a shutdown this season, resulting in the postponement and rescheduling of several games and it looks as though a second shutdown is possible in Sin City, with concerns over possible exposure to an aggressive new B1117 COVID strain.
There is some speculation that Golden Knights forward Tomas Nosek, who played in Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks and was pulled from the game in the second period and did not return for the third, may have tested positive for the virus. That speculation only grew after the Golden Knights ended the postgame press conference prematurely.
The Golden Knights have announced that they will not practice on Wednesday, nor will any member of the organization be made available to speak with the media.
With Minnesota, Buffalo and New Jersey also being hit hard by COVID-19 outbreaks in the locker room, neither the league nor the team are expected to not take any chances with another possible outbreak.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that has taken the outbreaks around the league very seriously, and per head coach Sheldon Keefe, the team has separated into three, sometimes four different dressing rooms to ensure adequate separation between players to adhere to social distancing recommendations.
It's my own personal opinion - and probably an unpopular one - that the league should postpone all games for a two-week span until such a time as a rapid results testing process can be established league-wide to avoid these types of team-wide outbreaks.
Even if players are spacing out in the locker room and remaining in their homes or hotel rooms unless otherwise with the team for workouts, practices and games, it does not change the fact that they're often in close contact in practice and in-game settings.. especially while all crammed together on the bench.
Realistically, the only way to keep everyone safe and reduce the number of positive test results is to endure a short, league-wide pause to help reset everyone to proper health, rather than continuously postponing games and risking exposure due to the slower timeline to receive results with the current PCR tests utilized by the NHL.
Just my two cents.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||