PITTSBURGH (AP) Due to a positive COVID-19 test, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is unable to play against Philadelphia on Thursday night.

The team made the announcement a few hours before the Penguins were scheduled to take on the Flyers. Assistant coach Todd Reirden will fill in for Sullivan. Reirden said Sullivan is symptomatic, which would indicate he will be out several days under the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

“As we go through this process, I just want the best for him and a quick recovery,” Reirden said.

Ever since training camp opened, the Penguins have been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. Since mid-September, eight players—including captain Sidney Crosby and this week’s defensemen Marcus Pettersson, Brian Dumoulin, and Chad Ruhwedel—have entered the protocol. Nobody will be able to play Philadelphia.

Ruhwedel was asymptomatic, while Crosby and Pettersson were, according to Sullivan’s statement on Wednesday.

Moving Forward Since the start of training camp, Zach Aston-Reese, Jeff Carter, and Jake Guentzel have tested positive for COVID-19; however, they have since left. Kris Letang, a defenseman who was added to the protocol on October 23, will play again against the Flyers.

In an attempt to limit their in-person interactions prior to the game, the Penguins postponed their morning skate on the day that Sullivan tested positive.

Reirden remarked, “It feels like we have been dealing with it for a while now.” “As we resolve this here. The main focus will be on us attempting to play some of the hockey we did at the start of the season.”

 

With Crosby out of the lineup while recovering from surgery on his left wrist, the Penguins started the season 3-0–2. However, going into their first meeting of the season against the Flyers, they have lost three straight.

Reirden’s tenure as head coach is not new. Before taking a second job back in Pittsburgh as an assistant under Dan Bylsma from 2010 to 2014, he served as head coach there for two years, from 2018 to 20.