Phase 3 of the NHL's return-to-play plan concluded on Saturday. During the final week of Phase 3, which spanned from July 18 to July 25, 4,256 COVID-19 tests were conducted and none came back positive, according to an announcement from the league on Monday.
More than 800 players were tested during the week-long period. In addition, there were just two positive coronavirus tests during the two-week period of Phase 3 that featured NHL teams holding their respective training camps.
NHL statement on COVID-19 testing results: pic.twitter.com/5dObzonFWA
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 27, 2020
All 24 teams set to participate in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and Stanley Cup Playoffs successfully reported to their respective hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto on Sunday. In Phase 4, all 52 personnel (players and club staff) for each team will be tested for COVID-19 on a daily basis.
Each NHL team is slated to play an exhibition game and there will be a total of 12 games played over three days. The action gets started on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET when the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in Toronto. The final exhibition game will wrap up on July 30 when the Vegas Golden Knights face off against the Arizona Coyotes.
On Aug. 1, the qualifying round of the postseason will begin with both round-robin and best-of-five series games. The plan is for the Stanley Cup to be awarded during the first week of October. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals will take place in Edmonton.
The league plans to continue to release the testing results as the season progresses.
