The Rangers may get Kevin Klein back in the lineup by the end of the regular season, perhaps by Thursday’s final home game against the Senators or Saturday afternoon’s finale in Washington.

The righty top-four defenseman skated on his own before the team’s morning skate on Saturday, hours before the Blueshirts’ 6-1 victory over the Devils at the Garden. It was the 12th consecutive game Klein has missed since suffering a broken left arm on March 11, when he took an Alex Ovechkin shot in the forearm.

Klein has been skating for the past week or so, and coach Alain Vigneault said Klein is expected to have a follow-up X-ray in the next few days to see when he can begin stick handling again.

“I would say if he can play, he will,” Vigneault said. “If docs tells us he’s cleared and he can, he will play. But if they say we’d be better off taking a couple extra days, we’re not going to hesitate to do that.”

There was little concern from Vigneault about Klein’s assimilation once he does return. The 30-year-old has been able to keep in shape during the injury with cardio and core work, and the only thing that might take a while to return is his timing with the puck.

“Other than stick handling right now, which he can’t do, which he should be able to do in the next couple days, I don’t see this being a major thing,” Vigneault said.

Forward James Sheppard remained a healthy scratch for the second straight game after playing nine in a row while Martin St. Louis was out with a right-knee injury.

Vigneault said he has not been disappointed with Sheppard’s play, and is looking forward to getting him back in the lineup before the regular season ends.

“We’re going to take this game-by-game, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to play here in the next games coming up,” Vigneault said. “We got him for depth, and I liked what I’ve seen, and I’m confident that when we use him, he’s going to be all right.”

Although the playoffs are approaching quickly, who the Rangers might play still is entirely up in the air. The contenders are the Red Wings, Capitals, Islanders, Penguins, Bruins — and the off chance the Senators get back in the race. That means Vigneault and his staff aren’t quite there yet on the pre-scouting.

“I think we’re going to get through here tonight and the next two games, then maybe by Wednesday or Thursday we might be able to narrow it down,” he said. “But we can’t narrow it down right now, so we’re just going to focus on our games right now. Once we know, we’ll know, and we’ll get ready for the opposition.”

Scott Gomez was fined the maximum $1,478.79 allowed by the collective bargaining agreement (based on his salary) for his major/game misconduct elbow against the Canadiens’ Alexei Emelin on Friday in Newark. The former Ranger and once-and-again Devil was Emelin’s teammate in Montreal in 2011-12.

“He’s a good guy,” Gomez, an Anchorage native, said before the match. “I’ve always gotten along with the Russians. … Alaska used to be Russia.”

Stephane Matteau’s son, Stefan Matteau, the Devils’ first-round selection in the 2012 entry draft, played for the first time at the Garden.