GARRIOCH: Drake Batherson Cleared to Play Saturday for Senators After Initial COVID-19 Concerns

A rapid test for COVID-19 in the morning was positive, but a subsequent PCR test was negative, for which he was authorized to file a lawsuit against the penguins.

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Musical chairs with the Ottawa Senators lineup continued on Saturday.

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There was concern in the morning when winger Drake Batherson initially tested positive for COVID-19, but, after undergoing a PCR test, the right winger was cleared to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Canadian Tire Center.

Although the senators would not have objected to this weekend’s games being postponed, the National Hockey League does not want to make changes to the schedule, so Saturday’s game against the Penguins was given the green light and you have to think in Sunday’s showdown with the Calgary Flames they will go ahead as scheduled at 5pm

However, defender Nikita Zaitsev was forced to ride a roller coaster on Saturday. After having a positive COVID-19 test just before Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, he then had two PCR tests that were clear, but then tested positive again before Saturday’s game, for which was removed from the lineup at the last minute.

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That meant Jacob Bernard-Docker, remembered earlier in the American Hockey League’s Belleville day, made his NHL season debut.

His teammate Artem Zub, who appeared to suffer a neck injury after taking a hit in the first period on Thursday, also got dressed on Saturday. After the bell Thursday, it emerged that blueliner Erik Brannstrom had a broken left hand and would be out for at least six to eight weeks.

Ottawa has nine players on the COVID-19 protocol roster: Austin Watson, Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell, Josh Brown, Nick Holden, Matt Murray, Victor Mete and Alex Formenton, along with associate coach Jack Capuano.

Trying to make sure the Senators had enough players to face the Penguins, general manager Pierre Dorion recalled forward Andrew Agozzino and defenders Bernard-Docker and Maxence Guenette of Belleville.

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Bernard-Docker and Guenette were the last two remaining advocates in the organization to sign contracts. Guenette was sent back to Belleville, which means he couldn’t become the third Senators player to make his NHL debut this week. Winger Egor Sokolov dressed against Boston on Tuesday and defender Lassi Thomson faced the Kings.

Pittsburgh has had its own problems with COVID-19 and did not have Captain Sidney Crosby on Saturday because he had not been officially removed from the NHL protocol list. Crosby was unable to cross the border into Canada because he failed to comply with the required 14-day quarantine after receiving a positive test result.

Penguins assistant Todd Reirden has acted as head coach with Mike Sullivan also on the COVID-19 protocol.

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“Everybody is a little bit different in terms of how they get over it,” Reirden said before Saturday’s game. “We’ve seen (different) extremes and then even when the players are playing, a lot of those who have been through it are still not 100 percent. It’s something that is really difficult to measure as we go through this virus. “

Reirden said he could understand the anguish senators were going through with the spread of COVID-19 because he had witnessed it with the penguins.

“The COVID-19 situation has created very sad times for the world,” Reirden said. “That is the first thing that is sympathetic to what they are going through at home with their families and to make sure, first and foremost, that their individual health is fine.

That’s my first thought to them, and then unfortunately that’s the world we live in now when it comes to being a professional athlete. In whatever sport it is, dealing with this adversity is part of what we have to go through now. It’s all in the name of safety and taking proper precautions to prevent people from getting seriously ill. “

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Reference-ottawasun.com

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