Jack Capuano isn’t going to surprise anyone with the three goalies he has in training camp this time next week, but that also doesn’t mean that the overcrowded competition for the Islanders’ starting job is going to be any less cutthroat.
The Islanders coach said yesterday that unless something drastic happens, Rick DiPietro, Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya will be with the big club after cuts early next week.
“Are we leaning that way? I’m not going to lie to you, we probably are,” Capuano said. “But we haven’t really determined who plays where and when.”
Nabokov saw his first minutes of the preseason on Tuesday night in Calgary, when he stopped 15 of 16 shots, playing the first two periods. Capuano said he was pleased with the 36-year-old’s performance, but it didn’t advance the situation on the depth chart just yet.
“Nothing has really changed,” Capuano said. “Over the next week and a half we’ll decide who’s going to go [for the season-opener] Oct. 8.”
DiPietro started the Islanders’ first preseason game, last Friday in Boston, and Montoya started the day after against the Devils at the Coliseum.
DiPietro is fully healthy in training camp for the first time in three years, and he’s embracing the competition.
“You can’t be complacent,” DiPietro said. “If you’re consistently competing against somebody, you going to get sharper.”
Tomorrow the Islanders will head to Newark to the play the Devils, then on Saturday they will wrap up their preseason schedule against the Bruins in Bridgeport, Conn.
“Over these next two games, we’re going to get a better feel for our goaltending as they play more,” Capuano said.
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There were no updates on the statuses of defenseman Milan Jurcina (left groin strain) and forward Rhett Rakhshani (left knee), who were both hurt in Tuesday’s game. They were set to be reevaluated when they returned from Calgary yesterday. . . . The team placed five players on waivers yesterday: forwards Tomas Marcinko, Trevor Frischmon and Tim Wallace, and defensemen Ty Wishart and Dylan Reese. If not claimed, they will stay with the team through training camp, because Bridgeport does not have any preseason games.