The Islanders announced Friday that oft-injured goalie Rick DiPietro has suffered another setback, this time a concussion that will keep him out indefinitely.
DiPietro took a Brian Rolston shot to the mask during Wednesday’s practice that sent him to the ice for about 15 seconds. When he got up, he immediately left practice and his old-style, Chris Osgood-inspired mask had a large black mark and deep crack in it above the cage on the left side.
Although the mask was painted blue, the underlying material was black, and the crack chipped off paint and was deep enough to fracture the integrity of the head gear.
DiPietro was limited to 26 games last season because of an assortment of injuries, including a concussion he sustained during a February fight with Penguins goalie Brent Johnson that also broke an orbital bone in his face.
DiPietro, 30, has played a total of 39 games total over the past three seasons, and has 10 years left on the 15-year, $67 million contract he signed in 2006.
Asked on Thursday about DiPietro’s history of concussions, Islanders coach Jack Capuano wasn’t overly concerned about that being a possibility.
“For me, it’s not right now,” Capuano said. “Just talking to him, he felt pretty good. I saw him when he had the concussion [last season] and he looks much better.”
Al Montoya has started the first three games of the season for the team, the first two of which DiPietro backed up. For Thursday night’s 5-1 win over the Lightning, DiPietro was still being evaluated and Evgeni Nabokov backed up.