The last few days have been quite the whirlwind for Charlie McAvoy.
On Sunday morning, he was placed in COVID-19 protocol shortly before Game 4. It looked like he was going to miss at least one more game, as he didn't travel with the team to Raleigh. Coach Bruce Cassidy said Tuesday morning that he was out for Game 5.
Except then McAvoy cleared protocol, hopped on a private jet, and made it to PNC Arena in time to play a game-high 25:14 in the Bruins' 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes.
Exactly how McAvoy managed to return so quickly is unclear. NHL protocols call for players who test positive to either isolate for five days from the onset of symptoms or return two negative tests. It's possible there's some wiggle room. It's also possible it was a false positive.
The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa reported that the NHL reviewed the case and considered McAvoy to be "non-symptomatic and five days out from symptom onset." He added that a Bruins source told him McAvoy tested out of protocol.
McAvoy met with the media after Tuesday's game and addressed the situation before taking questions.
"I know a lot of you are going to ask questions about the COVID stuff, but I cleared protocol today," he said. "So that’s where we’re at now. Just kind of want to leave it in the past if you guys are able to respect that, and we can just talk about the game."
That didn't stop some reporters from trying to get a few more answers. McAvoy was asked when he first felt symptoms.
"Just respectfully, I’d like to leave it in the past. I made it through the protocol and was able to join the team today," he reiterated.
He was then asked if the whirlwind nature of the day affected his play at all.
"No, I tried to show up and put my best foot forward, and just tried to give it everything I had tonight," McAvoy said.
How does he feel physically now?
"A little tired, but just kind of working through it," he said. "I’m on the other side of it now, so I look forward to feeling better every day."
Is it safe to say that you had symptoms and were actually sick?
"Yeah, I got sick. I went through it, made it out the other side, and here we are."
Cassidy also didn't clear much up, as he said he stayed away from the ins and outs of the protocols and just waited for the doctors to tell him McAvoy was cleared.
"Well, I can tell you for the most part, the medical team, our doctors, tell me he’s going into protocol. And then they tell me today he’s coming out at about lunch time -- I don’t know what time exactly -- and he’s gonna get on a private plane and be available because he got cleared," Cassidy said.
"Whatever happened in between, I didn’t even take any interest in, because I don’t know anything about the protocols. That’s all I know. We were planning on playing without him. It was a nice surprise he got taken out of the protocol and we got him in the lineup. You could see that missing some time, he wasn’t 100 percent, but he gave it what he had, and should be better in Game 6."