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Islanders activate Rick DiPietro from injured reserve, seeks to avoid punches upon return

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Warm up your punchlines everyone, Rick DiPietro is back for the Islanders. New York activated the much maligned goaltender off of injured reserve after he’s missed the last few weeks with a knee injury and facial fractures suffered from his altercation with Penguins goalie Brent Johnson.

DiPietro has once again been on and off the injured list this year leading the Islanders to do awkward and frustrating dances with different goalies this season ranging from Kevin Poulin, to Al Montoya, to Nathan Lawson who was sent down to make room for DiPietro.

DiPietro joins Al Montoya in the crease for the Islanders the rest of the way and while DiPietro’s injuries have been frustrating for the Islanders, making things more frustrating for them is the fact DiPietro had been playing pretty well when he’s been in this year. With Montoya leading the way in goal now the Isles are playing outstanding hockey in the second half of the season. Seeing how DiPietro handles things with a team that doesn’t give up in front of him has the high potential for great entertainment.

We’d be remiss if we neglected to mention that the Islanders also have one more game left this year with Pittsburgh on April 8 in Long Island. We’re hoping that DiPietro at least got a couple boxing lessons during his latest stint on the shelf on the off chance that things get really ugly one more time this year.