NHL

Islanders’ DiPietro out 4-6 weeks with facial fractures after fight

It went from embarrassing to serious very quickly for Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, who announced Friday he will miss 4-6 weeks because of numerous facial fractures resulting from a punch he took from Penguins goalie Brent Johnson during Wednesday’s 3-0 loss in Pittsburgh.

On top of that, there’s swelling again in DiPietro’s surgically repaired left knee, which very much puts in jeopardy the rest of the beleaguered netminder’s season.

“It’s unfortunate and frustrating and every other emotion you can throw in there,” DiPietro said at the Coliseum with a deep purple welt under his right eye. “You don’t ever want a broken face to be the reason for extra rest, but you keep telling yourself everything happens for a reason. I’m not sure what that reason is yet, but I’m sure at some point it will come to the surface and make when we win the Stanley Cup that much sweeter.”

The original X-rays taken on DiPietro’s face in Pittsburgh came back negative, but upon returning to New York, the CT scan showed multiple fractures.

“I can’t sit here and tell you how long it’s going to take my bones to heal,” DiPietro added, “but I’ll drink a lot of milk and say a lot of prayers and hopefully this thing heals up quick.”

The fight started with less than 17 seconds remaining in the game. Penguins winger Matt Cooke went to chase a loose puck in the corner, and DiPietro, hovering outside his crease, bumped Cooke, which started a scrum.

Johnson came out of his net and skated to mid-ice, looking for DiPietro. Although referee Rob Martell tried to stop Johnson, the two goalies locked up, and DiPietro, a lefty, dropped his right elbow allowing Johnson to land a vicious left hook, sending DiPietro straight to his back.

“I didn’t realize at the time that his arms are so long or that he could throw such a hard left punch, but I found both of those out pretty quickly,” DiPietro said. “It’s a tough game, a physical sport, and unfortunately my face paid the price.”

The decision by DiPietro to fight — a tough one to validate considering the team was already down by three goals, there was almost no time left, and the Islanders have very little chance at the playoffs — was one backed not just by his teammates, but by the coach.

“Whether you win or lose a fight, [the fighter] is there for [his] teammates and that’s all you can ask,” Jack Capuano told The Post on Thursday. “It showed a lot of courage for what he did and it could have been the opposite side, Rick could have thrown the punch. You know, it happens.”

DiPietro’s knee is another calamity all together. After playing 13 games in the past two seasons because of an assortment of injuries, the 29-year-old came into this year fully healthy. By December, there was swelling in the knee and he was forced to miss two weeks.

“At this point, whatever bad can happen just seems to happen, and not just myself, the entire team,” DiPietro said. “Not just small groin pulls and muscle strains where you’re out a couple days. It’s blowing out hips, knees and faces, everything else.

“But everything happens for a reason and the payoff is going to be that much sweeter when the thing we’re building here finally comes to fruition.”

Now, Capuano is faced with making a decision in nets. The bulk of the workload will fall on the shoulders of 20-year-old rookie Kevin Poulin, whom the team was planning to spend most of the year in AHL Bridgeport but has played in nine games (six starts). The other option would have been 27-year-old rookie Nathan Lawson, but because of an MCL sprain in his left knee that has sidelined him since Jan. 21, he’s not expected back for at least another two weeks.

And, to pour salt more on the wound, the Islanders traded solid veteran goalie Dwayne Roloson to the Lightning on Dec. 31 for a minor-league defenseman. Then they tried to claim Evgeni Nabokov off waivers last week, but he chose to sit out the season (by way of suspension) rather than report to the Islanders.

At practice Friday, the other goalie in nets besides Poulin was an off-ice official, Gary Boddington.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com