Edmonton captain and reigning league MVP Connor McDavid went on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list Wednesday, while the Dallas Stars and their captain Jamie Benn prepared to return to the ice after missing six games over 2 1/2 weeks because of virus issues.

McDavid, forward Derek Ryan and defenseman Tyson Barrie were placed in COVID-19 protocols before the Oilers’ game Wednesday night at Toronto. McDavid hadn’t missed any of Edmonton’s first 33 games. Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews was cleared for that game after a second false positive scare in recent weeks.

On Wednesday night, the NHL postponed three more games in Canadian cities because of the current attendance restrictions in some provinces. The league said the games – New Jersey at Montreal on Saturday night, New Jersey at Toronto on Jan. 17 and Chicago at Edmonton on Jan. 18 – will be rescheduled for later in the season when such restrictions may be eased or lifted.

Dallas was getting ready to play for the first time in 17 days after Benn and 10 other Dallas players went through COVID-19 protocols since their last game Dec. 20. The Stars got them all back before a home game Thursday night against Florida.

Dallas returns with two games in less than 48 hours: Pittsburgh visits Saturday for an early afternoon puck drop.

The 29 games for the Stars match Colorado for the fewest played among Western Conference teams, though the Avalanche’s 40 points are eight more than Dallas. Vegas and Anaheim, the top two teams in the Pacific Division, have both played 36 games.

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Dallas won its last two games before its pause that extended well past the NHL’s overall shutdown. Before those games, the Stars had a five-game losing streak that followed a season-best seven wins in a row.

While Stars players continued to practice during their pause, they didn’t have a full-squad session until a scrimmage Tuesday. They practiced again Wednesday, and don’t plan to try to over-complicate things when they play their first game since before Christmas.

The Oilers held McDavid and Ryan out of practice Tuesday after they returned positive tests. McDavid had tested negative on Monday before playing in Edmonton’s 4-1 loss against the Rangers in New York.

Edmonton also placed forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on injured reserve. Nugent-Hopkins had been day to day since Saturday with an undisclosed injury.

The team also announced forward Zack Kassian cleared COVID-19 protocols and goaltender Ilya Konovalov had been loaned to the team’s taxi squad, with goaltender Mike Smith set to return from an undisclosed injury to start.

TRADE: The Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Sam Lafferty from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Alex Nylander.

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Lafferty is slated to join the slumping Blackhawks in Arizona. The 26-year-old Lafferty, who is signed through this season with a $750,000 salary-cap hit, has no goals and two assists in 10 games with the Penguins this season.

Nylander has spent this season with Rockford of the American Hockey League, with eight goals and four assists in 23 games. He had 10 goals and 16 assists in 65 games for Chicago during the 2019-20 season and then missed last year because of a left knee injury.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

MAPLE LEAFS 4, OILERS 2: Ilya Mikheyev scored the tie-breaking goal on power play in the third period, and host Toronto sent Edmonton to its 11th loss in 13 games.

John Tavares and T.J. Brodie also scored for Toronto, Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and an assist,and William Nylander had two assists to help the Maple Leafs improve to 20-4-1 in their last 25 games. Jack Campbell stopped 28 shots.

Leon Draisaitl and Brendan Perlini scored for Edmonton, and Mike Smith had 29 saves. The slumping Oilers finished a winless trip 0-3-2 to fall to 2-9-2 since a 16-5-0 start.

PENGUINS 5, BLUES 3: Sidney Crosby and Evan Rodrigues scored 12 seconds apart in the third period, and host Pittsburgh rallied to beat St. Louis.

Bryan Rust scored twice and Brock McGinn also had a goal to help the Penguins win their ninth straight — their longest since a winning 15 in a row in March 2013. It is the longest active streak in the league, tying Carolina for the longest of the season. Pittsburgh is 14-2-1 in its last 17 games.

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