Sabres coaches clear COVID-19 protocols, can return Saturday vs. Bruins

In what's become quite the rarity during the 2020-21 season, the Buffalo Sabres received some good news ahead of the final weekend of March. 

Per the NHL's official website, Buffalo interim head coach Don Granato and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis have cleared the league's COVID-19 protocols and will be back with the team for Saturday's game at the Boston Bruins. Granato and Ellis entered the protocols hours before Thursday's matchup at the Pittsburgh Penguins that the Sabres dropped to suffer a 16th consecutive defeat. General manager Kevyn Adams served as Buffalo's head coach for that loss. 

"There's a different perspective when you're behind the bench," Adams said of his experience on Thursday. "You're feeling the emotions of the game. You're understanding how the players are interacting. You just see things in a little bit of a different way at ice level. So for sure, for me, I learned. [The] downside to that was it was challenging circumstances around." 

Adams added that neither Granato nor Ellis are showing any coronavirus symptoms. Granato became interim coach after Buffalo fired Ralph Krueger on March 17. 

The Bruins recently had two games postponed due to a COVID-19 pause but returned to the ice Thursday, when they lost to the New York Islanders. 

Buffalo is on 16 points and is dead last in the overall NHL standings.