By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
Wednesday brought some good news for the Flyers as no new players entered the NHL’s COVID Unavailable list. On Tuesday, Claude Giroux and Justin Braun were added to the list, joining Travis Sanheim.
Those additions forced the postponement of Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. The Flyers had already had games on Thursday and Saturday postponed due to COVID protocols involving the New Jersey Devils, their opponent for those two games.
Now, the NHL has announced that the Flyers game on Sunday against the New York Rangers has also been postponed. The league is expected to be able to re-open training facilities on Monday. Their next game would come against the Rangers on Thursday, Feb. 18.
This marks the fourth game postponed for the Flyers, but also allows for the extended time off to allow for proper COVID-19 contact tracing and protocols to be followed safely as this situation remains fluid.
Prior to their pause, the Flyers had defeated the Capitals, 7-4, in a game on Sunday, moving to 8-3-2 on the season through 13 games. Assuming everything about the updated schedule remains in place, the Flyers would be able to practice for three days before playing their next game, then get one game in before traveling to Lake Tahoe for the NHL’s Outdoor Series there.