Stars coach Rick Bowness leaves bench mid-game Sunday due to COVID-19 protocols

Stars coach leaves game after testing positive for COVID-19

The head coach of the Dallas Stars was missing in action for the final period of last night's game. It's a story of yet another distraction for the team.

COVID-19 has again interrupted a Dallas Stars game. Head coach Rick Bowness was forced to leave a game early after learning he tested positive for the virus.

It happened Sunday night while the team was in Raleigh playing the Carolina Hurricanes. They ended up losing to the Hurricanes 1-0.

Bowness has no symptoms and is fully vaccinated. He received his first COVID-19 shot in January.

Stars General Manager Jim Nill believes Bowness got a false-positive test result.

"Rick has been vaccinated. We think this is a similar situation. I know the Dallas Mavericks had this same situation with Rick Carlisle and I know there’s numerous other people this has happened to. We think it’s a false positive," Nill said.

Nill believes Stars goaltender Anton Khudonin had a false positive too when he was placed under COVID-19 protocol last week.

Khudobin is now cleared to travel with the team.

During training camp, 17 members of the Stars team tested positive for COVID-19.

The team now heads to Chicago for a game on Tuesday.