ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues will head into their next game without center Tyler Bozak, who was placed on the COVID-19 protocols list.
Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong made the announcement Tuesday morning as the team prepares to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Enterprise Center.
Bozak has dressed for 21 games this season. He’s netted seven points (one goal, six assists) and has six penalty minutes.
Bozak is the sixth Blues player to land on the COVID-19 list this season, following Torey Krug, Brandon Saad, Ryan O'Reilly, Ville Husso and Kyle Clifford. It’s been two weeks since the most recent player, Krug, returned to the ice.
According to NHL rules on positive COVID tests for this season, it means Bozak must isolate from the team for at least 10 days and get a doctor’s approval to return.
The NHL has postponed five games so far this season — three for Ottawa and two for the New York Islanders — but the league has not seen widespread disruption of its schedule unlike last season.
The Blues have an 11-7-3 record on the season. With 25 points, they’re trailing only the Minnesota Wild for the Central Division.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. Tuesday in St. Louis. It’ll be the first matchup between the Blues and Lightning since Nov. 27, 2019, when the Note were fresh off a Stanley Cup victory. In the 734 days since that last matchup, the Lightning have gone on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
It’ll also mark the return of the Lightning’s Pat Maroon to his hometown of St. Louis.
The Blues and Lightning will hit the ice against each other again Thursday to round out the home-and-home set in Tampa Bay.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.