Lawson returns because of DiPietro's illness

Unmasked, the two goalies working during yesterday's Islanders practice turned out not to be the same two from the team's roster the day before. Twenty-year-old rookie Kevin Poulin was in one net, but veteran Rick DiPietro was not at the other end of the ice.

Instead, it was Nathan Lawson, who had been sent down to Bridgeport barely 24 hours earlier and made 35 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to Providence in Tuesday night's AHL game.

Islanders coach Jack Capuano said that DiPietro was "under the weather. He was scheduled to be out there but he came in this morning not feeling well."

Lawson drove straight back to Long Island after Tuesday's game. "I knew the plan was for me to go down, get some time in and then come back," he said. "It's day-to-day. I can't look too far in the future, just one game at a time, one practice at a time, do my best."

Poulin, still in junior hockey last year, called his situation "just a plus right now. Just being called up right now, it's unbelievable. It's just day-to-day right now. So every day I'm here and just enjoying."