NHL

Key players set for return to Rangers’ lineup

Having cashed in bets to win and place, Rangers coach John Tortorella yesterday was still hanging around the pay window, refusing to tear up his show ticket, too.

As expected, Ryan Callahan, out 19 games with a broken finger, and Dan Girardi, who has missed two contests with sore ribs, will return to the Rangers lineup tonight at the Garden against Pittsburgh. And after a post-All Star break practice yesterday, Tortorella wouldn’t rule out the availability of Brandon Dubinsky, too.

“We are going to see how [Dubinsky] feels tomorrow,” Tortorella said. “The doctors say they don’t need another X-ray or anything like that, they feel it’s healed.

“Remember, this [stress fracture in his tibia] was going on for quite a while prior to [Dubinsky coming out of the lineup five games ago], kind of a weird injury.

“He wants to play. It just can’t be his decision. We can’t put him in a situation where he gets hurt again.”

Dubinsky wore an orange (no-touch) jersey at practice, as did Vinny Prospal, who following knee surgery will make his season debut on Thursday night against the Devils, and Erik Christensen (knee sprain), who may be available within a week.

“Our best line probably, today,” said Tortorella about the three untouchables in orange.

Girardi restores the Rangers’ best defensive pair with Marc Staal, who left practice early with what could have been an equipment problem.

“No [trainer] has come to me, he’s fine,” said Tortorella, who nevertheless has Michael Del Zotto, as yet unreturned to Connecticut, available tonight as a seventh defenseman.

Callahan skated yesterday with Derek Stepan and Wojtek Wolski; Brian Boyle centered Brandon Prust and Mats Zuccarello; and Artem Anisimov was between Marian Gaborik and Sean Avery, leaving Chris Drury on the fourth line with Kris Newbury and Evgeni Grachev, who will not be on the ice if Dubinsky returns.

“I wouldn’t rule anything out, don’t want to put a time limit on myself,” said Dubinsky, the Rangers’ leading goal scorer with 17. “If I wake up and feel good you never know.”

The rustiest Ranger of them all would be Callahan, who also is the most critical to get back. The Rangers showed great resilience through all these absences, but their margin on a playoff spot is nevertheless five points, which didn’t exactly make time fly for Callahan.

“Yeah, it went real fast,” he said sardonically about sucking wind from long skates under the sadistic rule of assistant coach Mike Sullivan, watching the Rangers go 10-7-2 in the absence of their highest energy player.

Tortorella said, “I give our team a lot of credit, when we lost him, that’s when I was most worried about where the team was going to go. He does everything for us. Cally is that important.”

And he is returning for an important game against the hated Penguins, who five points up on the sixth-place Rangers will still be without concussed Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who has been ruled out for tonight’s game by coach Dan Bylsma due to a sinus infection.

“I have full strength, it’s 100 percent,” Callahan said. “It’s an exciting game to be coming back for.”

jay.greenberg@nypost.com