Bruins chase DiPietro after first period
Nino Niederreiter #25 of the New York Islanders skates away as the Boston Bruins celebrate their first goal of the first period. (Nov. 19, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Want a dose of Islanders irony? Rick DiPietro was the healthiest of the team's three regular goalies going into Saturday night's game against the Bruins.
With Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya hurting, it was DiPietro in the net against Boston. For one period, anyway.
No, DiPietro didn't get hurt again. After the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins peppered him with three first-period goals on 13 shots in what became a 6-0 Islanders loss at the Coliseum, DiPietro was on the bench as the second period opened. In his place was Anders Nilsson, who was called up earlier in the day and was making his NHL debut.
How do you say "sacrificial lamb" in Swedish?
With four games in six days starting Monday, the Islanders may need to lean on DiPietro, so there was no reason to let the Bruins beat him up. DiPietro was the last regular goalie standing because Nabokov was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday with a groin injury and Montoya is day-to-day with a hamstring tweak.
Nilsson was recalled from Bridgeport (AHL) to back up DiPietro, who replaced Nabokov 7:55 into the first period of Thursday's 4-3 win over the Canadiens.
The Islanders fell to 2-8-3 in their last 13. The Bruins, who beat the Islanders, 6-2, on Nov. 7, have won eight in a row. Tim Thomas had 23 saves.
For the second time in a week, coach Jack Capuano ripped his team after a loss.
"If you play this game, you need to play with fire, you need to play with passion, you need to play with determination, you need to play with desperation, you need to have ice bags after a game, you need a little blood dripping right now," he said. "When you lace your skates up, the guy across from you, the guy on the left and the right of you need to know that you've got their back and we're going to play for one another. And that just didn't happen tonight. And I don't have the answers for it."
The Bruins outshot the Islanders 13-2 during their three-goal first period. That was it for DiPietro. "[Capuano] wasn't really pleased," he said. "There wasn't much that needed to be said."
A charging Patrice Bergeron scored the first goal at 7:08 off a cross-ice feed from Tyler Seguin. On the second goal, DiPietro tried to clear the puck from behind the net during a Boston power play but sent it to Nathan Horton's stick between the circles. Horton skated to the right and sent a bullet over DiPietro's right shoulder at 12:24.
"No excuse for that," DiPietro said. "I had an open lane to clear out and just got to get more wood on it . . . That's not a play I would like to repeat too often."
Chris Kelly (two goals, one assist) made it 3-0 with 1:15 left in the period with an unassisted blast that thrilled the sizable Boston contingent among the announced crowd of 15,011. Islanders fans booed the home team as the period ended. Then they cheered when Nilsson was announced as DiPietro's replacement at the start of the second.
The Bruins scored three more times in the third. Nilsson finished with 14 saves.
Notes & quotes:Before the game, the Islanders inducted former captain and longtime announcer Ed Westfall into their Hall of Fame . . . Kyle Okposo was a healthy scratch for the third straight game. "It was good for him to take a step back for a few games here and to just relax mentally," Capuano said. "When he does get back in there, I know he's going to have that fire in his belly and that desperation he needs."
More Islanders
