The Montreal Canadiens have had their next three games postponed due to COVID-19 meaning the Edmonton Oilers won’t be seeing them Thursday or Friday.

Instead, the Oilers will get the week off in preparation for a two-game set Saturday and Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. For the Oilers, this week off is far from ideal. They had two rock solid wins against the Winnipeg Jets last week and I’d imagine they wanted to keep that rolling through what would’ve been a tough three-game set against Montreal.

But it’s not all bad. It will allow some banged up Oilers, like Kailer Yamamoto who is nursing an upper body injury, a chance to get some rest. The Oilers played 11 games in the first 20 days of March, and these games would’ve only tightened it up more.

The Oilers and Habs will have to make up for these games and those will likely happen after the regular season wraps up. This, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, will mean the playoffs will likely be delayed from their originally targeted start date of May 10.

These games are the first that have been delayed out of the league’s North Division so far.