The New York Islanders, who have recently lost three goalies to injury and have been forced to go with a pair of raw rookies, added veteran minor-leaguer Al Montoya in a deal with the Phoenix Coyotes Wednesday.
The Islanders pried away Montoya, a former first-round pick of the New York Rangers who turns 26 on Sunday, for a sixth-round pick in 2011. The Chicago native is 11-8-0 with a 3.19 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in 21 games with San Antonio of the AHL.
Oddly, the Islanders have assigned Montoya to Bridgeport of the AHL.
With Kevin Poulin lost for the season due to a dislocated kneecap, an injury that happened in the warmup for Tuesday's game against Toronto, the Islanders faced the prosect of going with Mikko Koskinen and Joel Martin, who started the season in the Central Hockey League. Rick DiPietro, the Isles' No. 1 starter, is out with facial fractures while backup Nathan Lawson has a knee injury.
