The Penguins' game scheduled in Ottawa on Friday has been postponed.
While the Penguins and Senators are both dealing with a number of team personnel in the league's COVID protocol, that's not the reason for the postponement.
The NHL on Tuesday postponed nine games involving Canadian teams that were scheduled from Dec. 31 through Jan. 10 due to current attendance restrictions in certain Canadian cities, including games in Ottawa.
The Ontario government this month instituted capacity limits of 50% for indoor entertainment venues, sports stadiums and meeting and event spaces that have capacities of over 1,000 people, limiting the Senators to a crowd of 9,300 at Canadian Tire Centre.
Make-up dates have yet to be set, but they will be scheduled for a time when restrictions in those Canadian cities are eased or lifted.
This is the fifth consecutive game the Penguins have had postponed, none of which were due to COVID issues of their own: Dec. 21 against the Devils due to COVID issues affecting the Devils, Dec. 23 vs. the Flyers and Dec. 27 vs. the Bruins due to the NHL pausing games league-wide, and Dec. 29 in Toronto primarily due to COVID issues affecting the Maple Leafs.
The Penguins' next game on the schedule is Sunday at home against San Jose.
