It wasn’t an ideal sequence of events, and one day later Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro said making his season debut in the shootout of Thursday’s 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh was “definitely a weird situation.”
But DiPietro, the oft-injured franchise netminder, always has done what he can to take lemons and make lemonade.
“It’s great, you get a chance to be a hero in a game like that,” DiPietro said yesterday. “Spots like that [are] the reason we play the game and get you excited. It was a great opportunity, but it’s unfortunate he [Evgeni Malkin] slipped one under my pad and we couldn’t get that extra point.”
DiPietro was brought in just for the shootout — in which the Islanders failed to score and Malkin’s score held up — after goalie Evgeni Nabokov sustained a “lower body injury,” according to head coach Jack Capuano.
“The guy battled for as long as he could,” said Capuano, who said Nabokov was day-to-day, but probably unavailable for a few days.
Now it is as likely as it has been all season that DiPietro will be called on to start his first game in six months tonight against the Sharks at the Coliseum.
“We have three quality goaltenders, and I believe that [DiPietro] is ready,” Capuano said. “He’s focused and he’s healthy, and he’ll get his opportunity.”
Nabokov and Al Montoya received four nods apiece through the Islanders’ 3-4-1 start. DiPietro is adamant about being 100-percent healthy after sustaining a concussion Oct. 12.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in there to start a game, so this is an exciting time,” DiPietro said.