Oilers lose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

COVID took Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett off the bench for Tuesday’s game, and Oilers Devin Shore and Ryan McLeod have both entered protocol since that game. And then, there was more…

On Friday morning, the Oilers announced that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was place in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol as well.

The Oilers were in action last night as they finally put an end to their six-game losing streak by beating the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nugent-Hopkins was part of the lineup and collected an assist, putting up 19:42 of ice time in the 5-2 victory.

Things are way worse for the Oilers’ Alberta rivals. In Calgary, Mikael Backlund became the 19th Flames player to enter the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Friday as the outbreak is getting worse around the National Hockey League. One member of the team’s support staff has also entered the protocol for the Flames, who are shutdown through at least Saturday.

That puts the Flames’ total number of cases up to 32, including 19 players.