Ryan Reaves has false positive, available to play in Game 7
Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves was removed from the NHL’s list of COVID protocol-related absences Friday and played in Game 7 6-2 victory over Minnesota of the West Division first-round playoffs.
Reaves was on the ice for the optional morning skate at City National Arena after he was placed on the NHL’s list of COVID protocol-related absences Thursday.
Coach Pete DeBoer said Friday morning the team was still awaiting test results to determine whether Reaves had a false positive result for COVID-19. He was cleared by the afternoon.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb entered the COVID protocols Wednesday and did not play in Game 6. He remained in COVID protocol and did not play in the deciding Game 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
According to the NHL’s positive test protocols, if a third test sample is confirmed negative 48 hours from the initial sample, the individual may exit isolation.
Battered and bruised
The Knights and Wild combined for 128 hits in tone-setting Game 1. While both sides were skeptical about the accuracy of that count, there’s no doubt it was a hard, heavy series.
Left wing Jonathan Marchessault believed it was the Knights’ most physical playoff encounter since they faced Los Angeles in the opening round during their inaugural season.
The opener of that four-game series featured 127 combined hits, and Game 2 was a double-overtime slobberknocker that saw William Carrier rack up 11 hits of his team’s 56 hits.
“It was just a war, just a battle physically. Mentally, too,” Marchessault said. “I think Minnesota is a great team. … They worked as hard as us to make it a Game 7.”
Baby (not) on board
Wild forward Nick Bonino was at the hospital hours before Game 6 on Wednesday when his wife, Lauren, was induced into labor. She gave birth to their third child (and first son) at approximately 2:30 p.m., and Bonino rushed to Xcel Energy Center ahead of warmups.
A day later, Bonino was on the team’s charter to Las Vegas for Game 7, with the possibility of being away for several more days in Colorado if the Wild advanced.
“Yeah, definitely, it’s a little bit hard,” Bonino said. “I would love to be able to put the kids in the (Stanley) Cup, and this is part of that.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
