After four days off, the Rangers finally return to the ice tonight at The Joe where they’ll take on the Red Wings. It’s the second meeting of three this season. The Rangers took the first meeting 4-3 in overtime at MSG on Nov. 5. That was an exciting game that saw the Original 6’s exchange leads. Lee Stempniak had the apparent winner until a late Tomas Tatar power play goal with 7.7 seconds left forced extras. Derick Brassard rescued the Blueshirts with a PPG at 1:50 from Dan Girardi and Marty St. Louis.

Almost exactly a month later, the Rangers need a win following another disappointment against the Lightning. They fell apart in a 6-3 home loss Monday. Defensive breakdowns, sloppy penalties and poor goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist allowed Tampa to rally back for four unanswered to win the season series convincingly 3-0. In a two-week span, they outscored the Rangers 15-7. A disappointed Lundqvist indicated that “he’s had it” and met with his defensemen during a team practice this week. He won’t be in goal against the Red Wings.

Instead, Alain Vigneault will go with Cam Talbot. The popular backup has recovered from a slow start posting shutouts in his last two starts over the Flyers. He stopped 57 of 57 in the two victories. Clearly, Vigneault is hoping Talbot can provide a spark. Considering that it’s December and Lundqvist has been up and down like the team in front of him, it is eerily similar to last year. The only difference is Hank doesn’t have to worry about his contract and has gotten most of the starts. A 2.70 GAA and .905 save percentage isn’t King-like. Neither is his 9-7-3 record which loosely translated would be under .500 in the old days.

Dan Boyle returns after missing two games with the flu. He’ll replace John Moore, who finds himself the odd man out due to Matt Hunwick, who’s outplayed him. That won’t matter unless Ryan McDonagh raises his level. The same goes for Marc Staal, who too often has gotten beaten. Dan Girardi has been only okay. Unless the top three pick it up, this team will continue to tread water.

Chris Kreider’s struggles and Mats Zuccarello’s lack of production haven’t helped. Both must perform more consistently. Aside from each only having four goals, they’ve taken bad penalties. It can’t always be on Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, Brassard and Derek Stepan to create offense. They need stronger support. That includes Carl Hagelin (5-5-10) whose effort is never in question. I just wish he had more production. He does play on the third line with Kevin Hayes and Lee Stempniak. They’ll stay intact with Anthony Duclair a healthy scratch. That means J.T. Miller gets another start on the fourth line.

Projected Lines

Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello

Kreider-Stepan-St. Louis

Hagelin-Hayes-Stempniak

Miller-Moore-Fast

McDonagh-Girardi

Staal-Boyle

Hunwick-Klein

Talbot

As for the Red Wings, they’re in better shape. They’ve won four of five and have only lost six times in regulation. With 35 points, they’re right behind Montreal and Tampa. Pavel Datsyuk has been on a pretty good role with six goals and two assists over the last five. He’s amazing to watch and so far has 17 points in 14 games. He’s finishing more. Obviously, our D must pay close attention to him. Ditto the forwards who must do a better job coming back. Keep an eye on Stephen Weiss, who since returning has been on fire with nine points (4-5-9) in his last six.

Henrik Zetterberg leads Detroit with 19 assists and 24 points. The Red Wing captain is more playmaker these days. He has a goal and six helpers over the last six. Watch out for Tomas Tatar (1-3-4 in last 3) and Gustav Nyquist (12 goals). Both are extremely dangerous and capable of finishing. The Rangers must put a body on Johan Franzen in front. Justin Abdelkader has increased his offense with seven markers and 15 points. He’s pesky and finishes checks.

Niklas Kronwall does most of the scoring from the blueline pacing them in goals (4), assists (12), points (16) and power play assists (8). Danny DeKeyser (1-9-10) is in his second year and is coming along. Jakub Kindl is more of a stay at home type. Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Erickson and Brendan Smith round it out a unit that can be attacked. If the Rangers are on their game and dictate puck possession, they can wreak havoc. We’ll see how they do against one of the league’s best faceoff teams. Detroit is second overall coming in at 54.1 percent compared to the Rangers, who rank 28th at 46.7 percent. They need Brassard and Stepan to have big nights along with Dominic Moore. Detroit has a pair of aces in Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Darren Helm also is pretty underrated going 126-and-83.

Jimmy Howard has been much better this season. He’s 11-5-4 with a 2.23 GAA and .916 save percentage. Jonas Gustavsson got the start against the Rangers last month. Howard should get the nod this time with the Red Wings traveling to Carolina tomorrow.

A word to the wise. Don’t take penalties. If the Rangers want to win, they can’t put Detroit on the power play. They’re up to sixth best at 23.1 percent with their many weapons. The Rangers continue to struggle ranking 19th on the penalty kill (80.0 percent). No question it’s not the same unit without Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle. It’s a work in progress with Vigneault starting to give shorthanded time to Hayes and Jesper Fast. The power play is up to 17.3 percent and has shown signs of life. We’ll see how the special teams go.

The Rangers return home Monday for my birthday against the Penguins. Pittsburgh already won today 3-2 over Ottawa.