Newsday: Greg Logan's article confirms DiPietro's playing status for tonight will be decided after practice, goes into questions about Saturday's injury and his collison with Sean Avery last season which gave him a second concussion that Rick DiPietro felt was not intentional. Mr Logan also speculates Tim Jackman will be the Islanders call up to replace Johnson.
Daily News: Peter Botte in a first for this season attended practice and updated Rick DiPietro's playing status and if his equipment will be altered to protect him better.
"I felt good. I'm just trying to do all the right things to get back as soon as possible," DiPietro said. "It was scary, it's not something that you ever think is going to happen.
"The stick actually did catch me in the eyeball, but I guess I was fortunate that I blinked upwards and took it off the white part of the eye rather than the pupil. I feel really fortunate that it's not serious. I was trying to participate as fully as I could today and get a gauge where I am, and we'll see how it responds (this) morning."
NY Post: Dan Martin showed up at practice and got quotes from coach Ted Nolan, DiPietro and Bill Guerin.
"Anytime you have an injury where he had one, in a very crucial part of his body, that's scary," coach Ted Nolan said. "We're thankful nothing real serious happened. He looked good [in practice], and we'll see how he feels [today]."
NYI Fan Central Comments:
Let's see if this token coverage from the Daily News and Post holds up beyond one day or if only the Ranger beat writers will be covering the Islanders home game tonight. Everyone sure seemed to go over the concussion angle thoroughly.
Yahoo Sports: Ross McKeon did an article and picked the most underrated players on each team and picks Mike Sillinger for the Islanders.
Having just eclipsed the 1000-game milestone, the well-traveled 36-year-old checking center deluxe remains one of the best faceoff men in the game and a welcome addition to any playoff contenders roster. Sillinger has played for 12 different NHL teams, his leadership and versatility topping a long list of assets.