The Rangers have placed Mika Zibanejad in the COVID-19 protocols, the Rangers official website reports. The Rangers don’t play Saturday as their next game is Sunday versus the Sabres, but Zibanejad seems unlikely to play in that contest. Zibanejad becomes the fourth member, first for the Rangers, of the New York metro area teams to end the protocol. Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, and Ross Johnston are also in the protocol for the Islanders.
The NHL has run into a rash of positive COVID-19 cases of late as the Ottawa Senators had to postpone their games this week due to a team-wide breakout.