Rick DiPietro got back on the ice yesterday for the first time since leaving a rehab start 10 days earlier because of leg tightness.
And while he said he felt “great” after working out for 45 minutes before the Islanders’ morning skate, he admitted that the discomfort that caused the concern was something that had bothered him for “a while.”
“It was an issue that needed to be addressed,” said DiPietro, who last played on Dec. 11. “I saw some specialists and kind of figured some things out and I think solved the problem.”
The Isles still have plenty of other problems, now that they have dropped three straight — and four in a row at the Coliseum — after last night’s 4-2 loss to the Lightning.
They also gave up two power play goals, including two in the deciding third period, as they saw a 2-1 lead vanish.
“We’re letting it slide by,” Andy Sutton said of the current homestand. “This was our opportunity. We weathered a pretty big storm in November. We’re letting [points] fall away.”
As for DiPietro, he intends to participate in his first full practice today and said that he needed to get through a game “100 percent healthy.”
After complications from knee surgery limited the goalie to five games last season, he finished just four periods over two games for AHL Bridgeport before sitting out the last week and a half.
When asked if the stiffness was something he would have to get used to, DiPietro said: “I hope not. . . . We finally got to the bottom of it and I think addressed the issue. After having so much work done, you don’t know if it’s something that you’re gonna play through or something easily fixable. Luckily, so far, it seems like it was fixed.”