NHL Postpones Next Three Avalanche Games After Third Positive Test

The NHL announced Friday afternoon that the Colorado Avalanche will have their next three games postponed, after the team returned a third positive COVID test in the latest round of tests. The player who tested positive will join Defenseman Bowen Byram, and Goaltender Philipp Grubauer on the leagues protocol list.

The Avalanche were set to play the first of a two-game set tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, but now those two games, as well as Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, will likely be tacked onto the end of the season, which has already been extended for other teams to make up games.

This is the second shut down the Avalanche have been dealt this season, with the first seeing the team be shut down for nearly two weeks. Since the first shut down, the Avalanche had a grueling schedule, which saw the team play 32 games in 60 days, with the only break between games spanning longer than one day being the second game back from their initial pause, that led up to the game at Lake Tahoe on February 20th.

The Avalanche are targeting a return to practice on April 21st, and hope to return to action on April 22nd against the St. Louis Blues.