NHL Buzz: Senators have nine players in COVID-19 protocol

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Ottawa Senators

Matt Murray,
Alex Formenton
and Nikita Zaitsev were placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol by the Senators on Thursday.
Murray, a goalie; Formenton, a forward; and Zaitsev, a defenseman, joined defenseman
Josh Brown
,
Victor Mete
and
Nick Holden
, and forwards
Austin Watson
, Connor Brown and
Dylan Gambrell
.
The Senators hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (TSN5, RDS2, BSW, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
"All you can do is just keep playing," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "We want to get a win to get everyone feeling good. It's not the ideal situation, but no one feels bad for you in this league. We're privileged to play and be in the NHL and we're going to go out there and give it all we've got."
Ottawa, which lost to the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Tuesday, did not practice Wednesday for precautionary reasons. The Senators also canceled practice Monday.
Forward Andrew Agozzino and defensemen Dillon Heatherington and Lassi Thompson were recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Thursday.
Forwards Scott Sabourin and Egor Sokolov were recalled from Belleville on Monday; Sokolov made his NHL debut against the Bruins. Defenseman Erik Brannstrom was recalled from Belleville on Sunday.
"We just want to get through this as a group and get back to playing hockey every day with a full lineup and a healthy group," Smith said. "I think everyone's stressed. You want to win hockey games, you want to be healthy, you're worrying about a lot of things, but like everything else, it'll pass and we'll be better for it." -- Calum Fraser

#

New Jersey Devils

Dougie Hamilton returned to the lineup against the New York Islanders on Thursday (MSG, MSG+, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
The defenseman missed three games since sustaining a lower-body injury in a 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 2.
"Dougie has been day to day, and he had a good morning [skate]," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I'm going to say I anticipate him playing. We want Dougie back in the lineup and we're at the point where we thought he may play the other night (a 7-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday) and he wasn't quite ready; tonight looks like it could be the night."
Hamilton has scored six points (two goals, four assists) in eight games this season.-- Mike G. Morreale

Edmonton Oilers

Mike Smith had a setback in his return from a lower-body injury and was sent back to Edmonton on Wednesday.
The goalie has not played since allowing four goals on 15 shots in a 6-5 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 19.
"He had a setback in practice, so he's gone back to get some further evaluation in Edmonton," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said Thursday. "It'll be (Mikko) Koskinen and (Stuart) Skinner for the time being."
The Oilers, who visited the Boston Bruins on Thursday (SN1, SNE, SNO, NESN, ESPN+, NHL LIVE), were hoping Smith would return last week.
"It's a concern [that he's been out this long] for sure because he looks like he takes some steps ahead, then goes out, works a little bit and has taken another step back," Tippett said. "It's certainly a concern. He went through the last couple days and near the end of practice, kind of tweaked something. So he decided he wanted to go back. I think they're going to do some more imaging of it today, and we'll get a better read on it at home." -- Patrick Donnelly

San Jose Sharks

Coach Bob Bougner and seven Sharks players who were in NHL COVID-19 protocol are expected to join them prior to their game against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Forwards Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc and
Matt Nieto
, and defensemen
Erik Karlsson
,
Jacob Middleton
,
Radim Simek
and
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
skated the past two days and were expected to do so again Thursday.
"It's been a heck of a long time, " Boughner said Wednesday, speaking for the first time since being placed in protocol on Oct. 30. "Watching the team it's tough obviously but feeling good. ... I dealt with basically a head congestion and a headache for 4-5 days and then I was fine."
San Jose plays at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (TSN3, NBCSCA, ESPN+, NHL LIVE) before playing Colorado.
"The whole list of guys were on the ice for the past two days, will be on again tomorrow and we are going to fly [Thursday] afternoon and meet the team in Denver and were going to plan on having a full team practice on Friday," Boughner said.