The Rangers may be in the race for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division, but their real goal is to stay healthy with the postseason on the horizon.

Kaapo Kakko is exhibit-A for just how difficult it might be to achieve that goal. The Finnish winger suffered a lower-body injury Saturday afternoon after his right knee bent awkwardly during a fall along the boards early in first period of the Rangers’ 4-0 win over the Red Wings at the Garden.

He missed a majority of the game, just his fourth time playing since a suspected wrist injury sidelined him for over 10 weeks, a much longer recovery timeline than expected. Trade-deadline acquisition Tyler Motte already has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season, so any additional injury to the forward group would be bad for the Rangers.

The injury is particularly unfortunate for Kakko, who missed 31 games in a row and needs these final regular-season games to prepare for the playoffs. It’s possible the injury isn’t serious, and the Rangers medical staff just kept Kakko out for the remainder of the game as a precaution.

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If Kakko has to miss extended time, however, the Rangers won’t be as deep as they looked right after the March 21 trade deadline.

Alexis Lafreniere, who started the day on the fourth line with Kevin Rooney and Dryden Hunt, took shifts on the third unit with Barclay Goodrow and Filip Chytil after Kakko exited the game. The adjustment paid off. Lafreniere scored twice in the third period to snap an eight-game point drought and record the first multi-goal game of his career.

After notching his first on a partial rush, Lafreniere finessed a between-the-legs move that made the Garden crowd go ballistic as he finished with his backhand later in the third.

The win temporarily tied the Rangers with the Hurricanes for first in the division, but Carolina had a chance to regain sole possession Saturday night against the Avalanche.

Goalie Igor Shesterkin recorded his fifth shutout of the season with 20 saves.

The Rangers generated substantial offensive zone time in the opening 20 minutes and emerged with a 1-0 lead. After a couple of quality chances early on from Lafreniere and a Zibanejad breakaway that was sprung by a perfectly threaded pass from Jacob Trouba, the Red Wings notched their first shot on goal at 6:13.

Detroit was called for back-to-back delay of game penalties, giving the Rangers a five-on-three advantage. Panarin then teed up Zibanejad for a one-timer from the top of the left circle to put the Rangers on the board.

The assist was Panarin’s 90th point of the season. He now has two 90-point campaigns on his résumé, in addition to becoming the sixth Ranger to achieve that feat multiple times with the organization.

The Rangers doubled the score off Frank Vatrano’s 100th career NHL goal in the second period, when the trade-deadline acquisition wristed one from the slot.