The organizational mantra throughout the Rangers rebuild from 2018 to, well, last season, was to become harder to play against. 

Every NHL team has coined somewhat different styles that make them difficult to contain, and the Blueshirts made a lot of progress this season in discovering what their identity is in that regard. When they play fast, hard on the forecheck and chip in a healthy dose of wrecking-ball hits, the Rangers are at their best. 

It was on full display in the opening 20 minutes of the Rangers’ 4-3 triple-overtime loss in Game 1 against the Penguins on Tuesday. The Rangers recorded 19 hits, with Ryan Reaves and Alexis Lafreniere leading the way with four each, compared to the Penguins’ 10. 

Reaves was simply a menace on the ice, lining up hit after hit, which had the Madison Square Garden crowd humming in anticipation whenever he closed in on his prey. Pittsburgh defenseman John Marino may have needed an ice bath during the first intermission considering how many blows he took. 

The first period on Tuesday was one of the most effective 20 minutes the Rangers have put together this entire season. 

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“It wasn’t just the hits, it was playing fast,” head coach Gerard Gallant said Wednesday at MSG Training Center as the Rangers prepared for Game 2 on Thursday night. “The hits are great when Reavo finishes the checks and some big guys finish their checks against defensemen. But it’s not just that, it’s about playing fast, staying in the offensive zone and getting more game there. 

“Once we started letting them go D to D and across the ice, then the game opened up and that’s not the way we want to play. We just had to be quicker on our forecheck. The hitting helps, but it’s not all about that.” 

While it was a dominant first period, Gallant is correct that it can’t be all about the hits. The Rangers lost the edge so quickly, perhaps because they were gassed from consistently and relentlessly finishing their checks and throwing their bodies around. 

The Rangers need to find a happy medium. They need to pace themselves and spread out the physicality through 60 minutes — or longer, as they’ve learned. By doing so, the Rangers will be able to conserve their energy and apply it to the other facets of the game that make them successful, such as pushing a north-south pace and playing hard along the walls for a strong forecheck. 

This, however, doesn’t apply to certain Rangers like Reaves, who led the team with eight hits on Tuesday and plays a niche role. 

“Finishing every check is going to wear you down, too,” Gallant said. “So, do I expect Reavo and those guys to play that way the whole game? Yes, I do, because that’s what their role is and that’s what they do. That’s what they do best. Do I expect [Artemi] Panarin’s line to do that? Not all night, no. 

“I like to play fast and be aggressive on the forecheck, but they’re not going to finish checks all night long. They’re going to finish some bumps and that, but I don’t expect them to run around and take their energy out for finishing checks and big hits. They’re not going to do that.”