Rick DiPietro has made it through months of practice and drills without getting hurt. Tonight, he and the Islanders will see how his body holds up during a game.
It’s been nearly a year since the team’s injury-prone franchise goalie has suited up. Last January, swelling in his surgically repaired knee forced him from the lineup again.
“This is really big for him,” said GM Garth Snow, who will be in Bridgeport tonight to see the Isles’ AHL affiliate Sound Tigers host Springfield with DiPietro in net for the first time since Jan. 2. “It’s certainly been a long road to recovery for him.”
That’s an understatement. And it’s why, even with the team coming off one of its best victories of this surprisingly successful season and visiting Tampa Bay tonight, the eyes of the franchise will be focused just as squarely on DiPietro.
The 28-year-old, who appeared in only five games with the Isles last season, is scheduled to play 20-30 minutes tonight and then a full game either Friday in Springfield or Saturday in Hartford, followed by another entire match on Dec. 15 in Bridgeport.
If all goes well, he could join the Isles after that, meaning that the team would carry three goalies — DiPietro, Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron — for the time being.
While plans involving DiPietro, who is in the fourth year of a 15-year, $67.5 million deal, have been scuttled before by setbacks, the team seems confident he’ll be able to stay healthy.
And not having played in so long, DiPietro will have to get used to actually playing in games again.
“A lot of times, practicing with the team and working with a goalie coach is harder on you physically than playing in a game,” said Snow, a former goalie. “But to stay mentally focused for 60 minutes in a game situation is a different animal.”
If DiPietro is able to come through this two-week conditioning stint, it’s possible he’d be available by Dec. 19 against Montreal. And if he proves that he’s able to remain in one piece, it would give Snow the opportunity to move a goalie — likely Biron.
For now, though, the Isles are more concerned with the former No. 1 pick not getting hurt.