Rick DiPietro's first appearance since being sent down to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by the New York Islanders lasted one period.

Rick DiPietro Goalie - NYI RECORD: 0-3-0

GAA: 4.09 | SVP: 0.855

The 31-year-old goaltender was removed after allowing five goals on 12 shots in the first 20 minutes of a 7-3 loss to the Connecticut Whale in Hartford on Friday night.

DiPietro, who led the Sound Tigers to the 2002 Calder Cup Final but hasn't been an American Hockey League regular since 2002-03, found himself down 2-0 before the game was four minutes old after Chris Kreider and Brandon Segal scored power-play goals 56 seconds apart.

Whale defenseman Mike Vernace made it 3-0 midway through the period, and goals by Christian Thomas and Kris Newbury 34 seconds apart late in the period left the Sound Tigers in a five-goal hole.

Ken Reiter played the final two periods in place of DiPietro, stopping 16 of 18 shots, but the Sound Tigers lost their seventh in a row.

Sound Tigers coach Scott Pellerin told the Connecticut Post he was "very upset in the way our team played in front of [DiPietro] tonight," and added that DiPietro would start Saturday night's home game against Adirondack.

The Islanders put DiPietro on waivers February 22nd and assigned him to Bridgeport after he went unclaimed. The oft-injured goaltender had lost all three starts with the Islanders this season with a 4.09 goals-against average and a save percentage of .855.