"Want to sum up the last few years for Rick DiPietro and the Islanders?

The goalie entered the NHL's two-week Olympic break with his surgically repaired knee in good shape and not having missed a practice due to injury since returning on Jan. 6. And now, on the eve of the team's return to the ice tonight against Chicago at the Coliseum, he's out indefinitely with swelling in the knee.

Still, the 28-year-old was not terribly discouraged by the news, saying tests showed yesterday that everything is fine structurally with the knee.

"It's precautionary," DiPietro said after returning to the team's practice facility after practice, where he worked out. "After seven or eight days off, to kick it back into full gear might have irritated it a little bit. There's nothing major to report, just the stuff that goes along with the territory of coming back from a serious injury."

DiPietro reported he had no problems after Sunday's practice, which he participated in fully, but that his knee stiffened late Sunday and yesterday morning."