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Three More New York Islanders Players Enter COVID Protocol

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Anthony Beauvillier New York Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y — The COVID virus going around the New York Islanders locker room has sidelined three more members of the organization on a night the team was supposed to celebrate the start of a new chapter in their new home, UBS Arena.

Adam Pelech, Andy Greene and Anthony Beauvillier entered COVID protocol on Saturday, joining a trio of players that had already been sidelined because of the virus. Grant Hutton, Andy Andreoff, Paul LaDue and Richard Panik were recalled from AHL Bridgeport.

The New York Islanders were made aware of the positive COVID tests for Pelech and Greene on Thursday and Beauvillier’s results came back positive during testing on Saturday morning.

Despite the additions to the Islanders COVID list, Saturday’s game went on as scheduled.

The New York Islanders have had a rough week in the lead up to their long-awaited home opener at the $1.1 billion UBS Arena that was just recently completed. Josh Bailey had been the first player to go into COVID protocol ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers, and Anders Lee and Ross Johnston joined him on Friday,

Bailey has remained in Florida while he goes through protocol.

“We do not have the ability to make those decisions,” general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “Those decisions are made by the National Hockey League and the medical staff of the PA and the National Hockey League.”

The Islanders are the second club in the NHL to have been impacted by COVID-19 this week. The Ottawa Senators had been dealing with an outbreak of their own that forced the cancellation of three games.

Eight players from Ottawa were removed from protocol on Saturday.

Saturday was the New York Islanders first game at UBS Arena. They had practiced at their new home on Thursday.

Despite the latest news, the Islanders remained focused, Lou Lamoriello said.

“They’re focused right now is on the game, certainly with some young players coming in,” Lamoriello said. “There’s some enthusiasm in them I’m sure within them. … I’m sure they’re excited to play and they’ve played well in Bridgeport.”

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