Isles, DiPietro KO'd in Pittsburgh

Believe it or not, I had some good feelings about the game against the Penguins after the Isles effort against the Thrashers. It would not be long before those feelings went away, however.

Rick DiPietro gave up a very weak goal to Tyler Kennedy and things seemed to snowball from there. He admitted that he was leaning in anticipation of a pass that never came to Pascal Dupuis. Actually, it was quite obvious when it happened and if he didn't say that, he would have looked silly. Well, even more than he did at the end of the game if that was even possible.

The Penguins hit an empty net to give them the 3-0 lead to seal the win. With 16 seconds left, DiPietro took a shot at Matt Cooke. DiPietro was the initiator here, but Matt Martin obviously came to the aide of his netminder and chased Cooke towards the corner. Many fights broke out, including DiPietro and Brent Johnson despite the pleading of one of the on-ice officials who was perhaps trying to save DiPietro from himself.

As they met in front of the net the Isles defended, you could immediately see the size difference between Johnson and DiPietro. It took Johnson all of one punch to drop DiPietro.

I'm not quite sure who initiated the fight, but history tells me it was most likely DiPietro. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief as he did this. I appreciate teammates standing up for each other, and when it comes to this team I want to see more of it. But not from an oft-injured goalie. Not from one who has suffered multiple hip, knee and concussion related injuries. The fact DiPietro got dropped immediately after a shot to the head gives some cause for concern.

DiPietro immediately skated off holding the area of his face where he took the punch. Fortunately, he didn't look too hurt in the post game. However, it was an absolutely bone-headed thing for him to do. Martin and Zenon Konopka were already on the ice trying to take care of things. They appeared to have it covered.

The brawl was a microcosm of the Islanders recent trips to Pittsburgh. They have now lost their last 11 games there.

However, both DiPietro and Johnson played pretty well. Each had their fair share of key saves in a game that didn't have very much offense or very many shots. Unfortunately for DiPietro, both goals that he gave up were weak.

I thought the Isles effort was pretty good. There were a couple of times where there was scrambling in front of the net, and somehow Johnson was able to make the save or cover up. When you run into a hot goalie, there isn't much you can do.

The Islanders have a couple of days off now before the take on the Senators on Saturday at home.

No Interest in Smith: When the Tampa Bay Lightning put Mike Smith on waivers Wednesday, I thought that the Islanders might put a claim in given the thought that they want to get Kevin Poulin back in Bridgeport as the everyday starter. Katie Strang wrote yesterday afternoon that sources are telling her the Isles have no interest.

While he's certainly not Evgeni Nabokov, the Islanders made it known that one of the primary reason's they were claiming Nabokov was to get Poulin back to the minors. They had essentially admitted they needed a goalie, and now all of a sudden that tune seems to have changed. Poulin has played well no doubt, but ideally I would really like to see him down in the minors for the remainder of the year. In any event, we move on.

-CH

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