The Vancouver Canucks have officially returned from their extended COVID-19 hiatus.
The puck has dropped in Vancouver’s tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canucks’ first game action since March 24.
The Canucks suffered the NHL’s worst COVID-19 outbreak when the P. 1 variant of the virus swept through the team late last month.
Twenty-one players and four coaches tested positive for the virus, one other player was deemed a close contact, and another received a false positive result. Family members — including one player’s pregnant wife — also fell ill.
No Canucks players remained on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list Sunday. Nineteen were on the list at the height of the outbreak.
But some of Vancouver’s regular starters remained out of the lineup Sunday, including goalie Thatcher Demko who was replaced in net by Braden Holtby,
WATCH | CBC Sports’ Rob Pizzo recaps Week 13 in NHL North Division:
In our weekly segment, Rob Pizzo catches you up on the week that was in the all-Canadian division in the NHL. 3:56