NHL

Rangers look for cure for struggling power play

The Rangers hope the recently returned Brandon Dubinsky will jump-start their struggling power play. (Getty Images)

John Tortorella gave his team the day off yesterday after the Rangers lost their season-high fifth straight game, falling to 0-4-1 during that stretch, with a 3-2 loss in Detroit on Monday night.

But the Rangers coach already was mulling new combinations for the team’s struggling power play, and was looking forward to the next two days of practice as a chance to find one that will work before the Rangers’ next game in Atlanta Friday.

The Rangers were 0-for-5 with the man advantage against the Red Wings and are now 3-for-31 in their past eight games.

“I already have some combinations for [today] in mind, and, again, we were close [Monday] in a couple [of] situations,” Tortorella told The Post after yesterday’s Garden of Dreams Coaches Challenge event at the team’s Westchester practice facility. “We need something good to happen for us, and hopefully some guys start feeling better and they start gaining their confidence, as far as scoring some goals.”

The three-day break also gives the Rangers a chance to get re-acquainted with players such as Vinny Prospal, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Erik Christensen, all of whom recently came back from injuries.

“It’s not so much about conditioning when athletes come back,” Tortorella said. “Some of these guys have been out for quite a while, and it’s just getting them back in the rhythm of playing.

“Although they’re all working hard, they just haven’t gotten into their game.”

Despite his team’s recent struggles, which have dropped the Rangers to seventh in the Eastern Conference standings — three points ahead of Carolina — Tortorella said he isn’t worried about the Blueshirts getting things turned around.

“I think we’ve played better in some of the games we’ve lost than some of them we won [earlier],” he said. “As I’ve said right along here, we’re a young hockey club. We’re going to go through some bumps, and this really is our first major bump of the year.

“The thing I go home at night knowing we’re going to be OK if the effort’s there. We always work hard, and that’s something that needs to stay. We’ll get through this.”