NHL

Elias tempers hopes on return to ice

Urging caution, Patrik Elias says the Devils shouldn’t expect a repeat of his season-saving comeback of 2006.

The franchise’s career points leader may make his season debut tonight when the Islanders visit Newark (7 p.m., MSG+/MSG+2, WFAN, WMJC), returning from two rounds of summertime surgery.

The Devils will be without center Rob Niedermayer, who left Wednesday’s 3-2 triumph over the Capitals with an upper body injury. Both Elias and Jacques Lemaire said Niedermayer’s absence won’t affect the decision on Elias tonight, but Lemaire had him practicing at center yesterday.

When Elias returned from Hepatitis A, which he contracted during the lockout, on Jan. 3, 2006, the Devils were a game under .500 and in serious danger of missing the playoffs. They went 30-9-4 after his return and he had 45 points in his 38 games.

“That was ridiculous,” Elias said. “Don’t expect that from me, even though I’d like to play that way. It’s different things in your body. They’re cutting into you and doing things to you, repairing. It’s different for an athlete.

“It’s two separate issues, and the body reacts totally differently.”

He might wait until tomorrow’s visit to Ottawa, but if he plays tonight, he’ll be joining a team that has won three straight and nine of 11. Elias skated yesterday between Jamie Langenbrunner and rookie Matt Halischuk.

The addition of a star player can only help New Jersey, which scored more than two goals for the first time at home Wednesday.

“Hopefully, just me coming in will pump up the [team]. . . . The guys are doing well you know,” Elias said. “We’ll see how much ice time I get and if I play, what position and how I’m going to be.

“I’ll just worry about me. Keep it simple and just enjoy it. And keep my head up.”

Elias finished second to Zach Parise in team scoring last year, with 31 goals and 78 points to Parise’s 45 and 94. He holds the team record of 706 career points, and also the Devils’ playoff scoring records of 40 goals, 73 assists and 113 points.

The 33-year-old, a second-rounder in 1994, said he’s going to feel his surgeries for some time.

“That’s going to be there for a while,” Elias said. “You just have to get used to recognizing where you can take it and when it becomes a little more than just discomfort. You just go through practices and to assess how your body fares in certain situations.

“I’ll be smart about it if I play [today].”

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The Devils are expected to give Yann Danis his second start as a Devil, facing his former team. . . . With Paul Martin (broken arm) and Johnny Oduya (lower body) out on defense, the Devils began machinery to recall D Jay Leach from Lowell. Leach would have to clear re-entry waivers to come back to the Devils, and any team claiming him would only have to pay half his remaining salary and count that half against its cap. The other half would be paid by the Devils and counted against their cap.

mark.everson@nypost.com