International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) President Luc Tardif has said that both teams agreed to play in masks following the delay in getting results.

One Canadian player, Emily Clark, was also pulled from the fixture after participating in warm-ups because of an inconclusive test result.

Clark is now isolating and awaiting the outcoming of further testing, according to Hockey Canada.

The preliminary round's Group A clash was due to start at 12.10pm local time before being rescheduled to 1.15pm, with Beijing 2022 officials citing "safety and security concerns".

The ROC team spent 40 minutes on the ice at the Wukesong Sports Centre, while the Canadians stayed in the dressing room.

Canadian head coach Troy Ryan spoke to officials at the team's bench before the ROC players returned to the changing room.

"Due to safety and security concerns the start time of game 13 ROC-CAN has been rescheduled to 13.15," an official notice from Beijing 2022 read.

The match eventually went ahead with players emerging wearing masks.

"The Canadians came out late on the ice because of the last test result of the Russian team," Tardif told Russia's official state news agency TASS.

"The test was done by 8am local time, but the results came late, the teams agreed to play in masks to ensure maximum safety."

Canada scored two goals in each period as they proved too much for the ROC team.

Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Fillier, Erin Ambrose, Jamie Lee Rattray, Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Nurse all got on the scoresheet for Canada, with Anna Shokhina replying for the ROC who did not wear masks in the final period.

"The test results came in end of the second period, so the players took off their masks," added Tardif.

"All results are negative.

"We are working closely with the health authorities on a schedule consistent with our competition to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Canada's Natalie Spooner said the team only felt comfortable once the ROC's COVID-19 results had come back.

"Our coaches and medical staff were not going to put us in a situation where we would not feel safe," said Spooner.

"This is probably a cool story in the long run.

"We can say we were at the COVID Olympics and we even wore a mask in a game."

Former IIHF President René Fasel told TASS that he was "very surprised" when he saw players complete in masks.

"It's a very strange decision to go on the ice in masks," claimed Fasel.

"To play 100 per cent and give all the best in a mask is impossible.

"You can't even do morning runs in it, and here is an Olympic competition.

"It will be a good lesson for the organisers in the upcoming matches, this should not happen against.

"This is nonsense, not a competition."

The ROC were hit with an outbreak of coronavirus cases on the eve of the start of their campaign at the Games.

Diana Farkhutdinova, Angelina Goncharenko, Olga Sosina, Yekaterina Nikolayeva, Liana Ganeyeva and Lyudmila Belyakova were forced to miss the ROC's opener against Switzerland after returning positive coronavirus results the day before.

It was later confirmed that Victoria Kulishova and Elena Dergacheva also tested positive for COVID-19.

The ROC defeated Switzerland 5-2 on Friday (February 4) before losing to the United States a day later and then going down to Canada 6-1 today.