New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro will miss 4-6 weeks with facial fractures and knee swelling, the team announced Friday.
DiPietro and Penguins goalie Brent Johnson engaged in a fight with 16.5 seconds left in Pittsburgh's 3-0 win against the Islanders Wednesday. Johnson knocked DiPietro to the ice with a clean left just about the right eye. DiPietro's face was visibly swollen with a welt after the game.
"It's frustrating, it's unfortunate and every other emotion you can throw in there," DiPietro told reporters. "I'm sick of losing, our team's sick of losing. You never go into a fight expecting you're going to get smashed in the face that hard, or with these kind of consequences, but it happens and you move on."
Despite the fact that postgame X-rays in Pittsburgh came back negative on Wednesday, a CT scan reportedly revealed the damage.
There is no indication the knee swelling was related to the fight, but DiPietro has had a history of injuries, including a torn labrum and a meniscus injury in a knee. Knee swelling kept him out for a week this past December.
DiPietro has a 7-10-4 record with a 3.36 goals-against average and .890 save percentage in 21 games this season.