NHL

DIPIETRO DUE BACK FOR ISLANDERS

Rick DiPietro hasn’t returned to practice yet, but he is expected to make the trip with the Islanders to Minnesota on Friday and could skate with the team then.

“I think there’s a realistic shot,” coach Scott Gordon said of the goalie’s possible return to the ice. Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis would still be the active goalies.

And the coach dismissed the notion that the injury-prone 27-year-old goaltender would be better off skipping the rest of the season to ensure that he wouldn’t get hurt again.

“To spend the whole year off is more detrimental,” Gordon said. “You want to build something for next year.”

Neither Mike Comrie (hip) nor Kyle Okposo (wrist) will be ready for tonight’s home game against the Capitals (7:00, VERSUS, WMJC 94.3 FM), but they figure to return soon.

Still, with the Islanders having lost eight of their past nine games, Comrie admitted the Isles need more help to turn the season around – especially with Nate Thompson now out 2-4 weeks with a fractured ankle. The Isles may have to call up three players for tonight.

“Any healthy body takes the pressure off of everybody,” Comrie said. “I don’t think that Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux . . . it would obviously help our team, but we have to win as a group.”

Okposo said he is ahead of schedule after he was initially thought to be out for at least another two weeks.

For the Isles this season, that’s about the best news they could hope for.

dan.martin@nypost.com