Boo gets over bug, expects to return

It seems like getting sick didn’t make Boo Nieves lose his job.

The Rangers’ fourth-line winger is expected to return from a three-game absence because of a stomach bug when his team hosts the Oilers on Saturday afternoon at the Garden. Nieves got ill after a bad meal in Florida last Friday, but he was able to skate the past few days and he said he was “starting to feel more like myself ” after Friday’s practice in Tarrytown.

“It’s tough, it’s not ideal, but it is what it is,” Nieves said. “Things happen. They gave me the time I needed, so I feel back like myself.”

The 23-year-old out of Michigan was called up to make his season debut (career NHL game No. 2) Oct. 26 against the Coyotes, when he recorded three assists. He played in the next three games before that fateful meal.

Paul Carey had been the placeholder, but now Nieves is going to slide right in between Michael Grabner and Jesper Fast as the Rangers look to extend their five-game winning streak.

“I don’t think that’s something you worry about too much,” Nieves said. “If the team’s winning, the team’s winning, and you have to do what you have to do.”

Coach Alain Vigneault said the defense was supposed to remain the same, which would make Brendan Smith a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game and the seventh time in the team’s first 18 games.

The Rangers are in the midst of a strange part of the schedule. Saturday is the only game they play for six days, with just four games in a span of 14 days.

“It works out all right,” said Vigneault, whose team plays 11 back-to-backs this season, tied for the second-fewest in the league. “We’re able to get some quality practice and quality rest. Schedules aren’t always like this. This right now is a good little chunk in the schedule.”