BUFFALO, N.Y. — Taylor Hall had seen baseball and football teams play without their stars. He knew how being short-handed could negatively impact a team.
So, along with wanting to fit in with Jack Eichel and the Sabres, he wanted to make sure they all stayed on the ice.
“It’s important for us to stay healthy, to stay ahead of COVID, to use that as an advantage for us,” Hall said just before the season started.
Less than two weeks in, the Sabres have an advantage.
Buffalo will head to Washington for two games against a depleted Capitals squad that has seen four players enter the COVID-19 protocols, including superstar Alex Ovechkin, No. 2 center Evgeny Kuznetsov, first-pair defenseman Dmitry Orlov and No. 1 goalie Ilya Samsonov.
The Capitals say one of the players has tested positive, so the top concern is his health. But the other three broke NHL rules by hanging out with him in a hotel room without masks. It’s…
