The rash of injuries that has torpedoed the Islanders' playoff hopes officially has claimed the slumping star who's stubbornly insisted full health for nearly two months.
Franchise goalie Rick DiPietro will be replaced Tuesday against Toronto by backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz because the All-Star netminder was sent for an MRI on the opposite hip from the one that required surgery last summer.
DiPietro, who has 13 seasons remaining on the landmark 15-year deal he signed before the 2006-07 season, has continued playing despite admittedly tweaking his hip during All-Star Game weekend Jan. 26. After facing Minnesota star Marian Gaborik on a breakaway during the skills competition, a miked-up and unfiltered DiPietro revealed to a national audience that he "just (messed) up" his hip.
DiPietro has spent the past two months denying he was injured beyond normal bumps and bruises, but his post-break statistics - and the Isles simultaneous fall from the playoff race - certainly bely that assertion.
DiPietro, a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate for league MVP while carrying the low-scoring Isles in the first half, has gone 7-12 with a 3.38 GAA in 19 starts since the break. A brief controversy even popped up earlier this month when coach Ted Nolan gave Dubielewicz three straight starts - including back-to-back games agaiunst the Rangers - despite DiPietro's return from his grandmother's funeral.
Top prospect Kyle Okposo, the seventh overall pick in the 2006 entry draft, is slated to make his NHL debut Tuesday for the Isles, who have lost five straight games to fall nine points out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining.
Franchise goalie Rick DiPietro will be replaced Tuesday against Toronto by backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz because the All-Star netminder was sent for an MRI on the opposite hip from the one that required surgery last summer.
DiPietro, who has 13 seasons remaining on the landmark 15-year deal he signed before the 2006-07 season, has continued playing despite admittedly tweaking his hip during All-Star Game weekend Jan. 26. After facing Minnesota star Marian Gaborik on a breakaway during the skills competition, a miked-up and unfiltered DiPietro revealed to a national audience that he "just (messed) up" his hip.
DiPietro has spent the past two months denying he was injured beyond normal bumps and bruises, but his post-break statistics - and the Isles simultaneous fall from the playoff race - certainly bely that assertion.
DiPietro, a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate for league MVP while carrying the low-scoring Isles in the first half, has gone 7-12 with a 3.38 GAA in 19 starts since the break. A brief controversy even popped up earlier this month when coach Ted Nolan gave Dubielewicz three straight starts - including back-to-back games agaiunst the Rangers - despite DiPietro's return from his grandmother's funeral.
Top prospect Kyle Okposo, the seventh overall pick in the 2006 entry draft, is slated to make his NHL debut Tuesday for the Isles, who have lost five straight games to fall nine points out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining.
