Goalie Fight!

If you missed this in the NHL Wednesday night, it may be because you blinked.

At the end of Pittsburgh's 3-0 win over the New York Islanders, a frustrated Isles goalie Rick DiPietro took a poke at Pittsburgh agitator Matt Cooke. As the skaters converged in the corner for one of those post-whistle skirmishes, DiPietro and Pittsburgh goalie Brent Johnson exchanged words.

Johnson wanted a piece of DiPietro, and he got it.



The best part is probably Johnson checking on DiPietro after he went down. Looked like Johnson caught him pretty good.

DiPietro was given minor penalties for interference and leaving the crease (goalies are not allowed to leave the crease during any scrum that takes place outside of the goal area), along with a major for fighting and a game misconduct. Johnson was only given the major penalty for fighting and a game misconduct, which seems odd, since he skated some 150 for the opportunity to punch DiPietro.

For his efforts, Johnson lost the chance to be credited with a shutout. Since Marc-Andre Fleury had to finish the game, it goes into the books as a team shutout, not one credited to either goalie.

And, frankly, when you shut out the Islanders, you probably shouldn't get statistical credit for it.