Sabres news: East Division rival places star in health and safety protocol

An East Division rival of the Buffalo Sabres has placed one of the NHL’s best into the league’s health and safety protocol. It was announced this morning that the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed star forward Sidney Crosby on the COVID list. As a result, Crosby will not be available for the Penguins game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Through 20 games played so far this season, Crosby has seven goals and 11 assists. Crosby has the most points on the Pittsburgh Penguins with 18. The Penguins will rely heavily on their other top players to provide them with offense while Sid is unable to go.

The Sabres have yet to play the Penguins this season. This situation is one that fans of Buffalo should keep an eye on as the Sabres are scheduled to play Pittsburgh next week. They are currently scheduled to play two games in Buffalo, one on Thursday, March 11th, and another on Saturday, March 13th.

Buffalo fans have seen firsthand how situations like this have the potential to have a domino effect and sideline an entire team for an extended period of time. After the Sabres played the New Jersey Devils at the end of January, Buffalo had some players land on the health and safety protocol list, which led to the Sabres not playing a game for just over two weeks.

The Penguins currently sit in fifth place in the East Division standings with 23 points. They are two points behind the Flyers for that highly sought-after fourth seed in the division. The Sabres are currently eight points behind the Penguins and in sole possession of last place in the East Division.

If Pittsburgh is without Crosby for an extended period of time, the Sabres need to take advantage when they play them. But first, Buffalo needs to take care of who they play tonight, as they face off with the Rangers in NYC.