The analytical models that track the NHL have always undervalued the Rangers because they have never been a high-volume attempts team at five-on-five and have been too dependent on special teams for their success, more notably the power play.

It was amusing that analytics overestimated the Blueshirts in Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat at the Garden to the Panthers in Game 1 of the conference final. This was not a particularly high-event game and the Rangers were able to cobble together enough Grade A opportunities, isolated as they were, to fool the model and make it seem as if the game could have gone either way.

Technically, of course, when it is 1-0 from 16:26 of the first period to 16:12 of the third period, the game could go either way. But it never felt that way. It never felt that way because the Panthers owned the puck pretty much from the get-go and appeared in control the way the Rangers seemed in control of a 1-0 Game 6 against Montreal in the conference final 10 years ago.

Put it this way. If the Rangers and Panthers both played the same game in Friday’s Game 2 at the Garden, Florida would be going home with a 2-0 lead looking for a sweep and everyone recognizes that. You might recall the Puddy Tats swept the Canes in last year’s conference final after taking the opening two in Raleigh, both in overtime.

“We didn’t like the way we played last game, we thought we could have played better but that’s behind us,” Vincent Trocheck said following his team’s morning skate. “We need better execution in every area of the game, breakout, transition, getting to the puck, the power play could have been better.”

The power play is the lifeblood of the Rangers’ offense, if not their team. During the season, they went 35-14-0 when scoring at least one power play goal for a points percentage of .833. The Blueshirts went 20-9-4 when blanked with the man advantage for a points percentage of .667.

Through the first 11 games of the tournament, the Blueshirts are 6-0 with at least one power play goal and 2-3 without one following Wednesday’s 0-for-2 over 4:00.

The Rangers hold their own at five-on-five but that’s not where they thrive. Indeed, they have been outscored 20-19 at full and equal strength during the tournament while holding a 15-4 edge on special teams.

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One of the Blueshirts’ Game 1 man-advantages came off a Florida too-many-men minor. That means the Rangers drew just one Panthers penalty. That’s because the Rangers didn’t have puck possession. In the immortal words of Herm Edwards, “You play to win the puck! You play to win the puck!” The Blueshirts didn’t do nearly enough of winning the puck in Game 1.

And when they did have their pair of power play opportunities late in the second and midway through the third, and both times while the game was sitting at 1-0, the Blueshirts did win enough pucks through their man-advantages, either.

There is Adam Fox’s IQ, Artemi Panarin’s brilliance, Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer, Vincent Trocheck’s bumper savvy and faceoff prowess and Chris Kreider’s unparalleled net presence, but the Rangers’ ability to retrieve the puck on the power play has been one of the unit’s greatest strengths. It wasn’t quite that in Game 1, and it wasn’t quite that in the latter stages of the Carolina series. This is when you are reminded that this is best-on-best.

“I think we had to go back [for the puck] a couple of times that were self-inflicted and we would [like] to avoid that if we can,” Kreider said. “Especially at this time of year when all those little things matter more because everything is put under a microscope, recoveries are so important.”

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The Rangers did little with their first power play opportunity that came at 18:34 of the second, generating one shot. The second opportunity at 13:11 of the third was a bit better, with Sergei Bobrovsky forced to make three saves, but it didn’t really sing.

“I touched on it the other night though it wasn’t well-spoken but hockey early in the summer, teams that are going to be peaking, not a lot of time and space, ice is going to be chewed up and teams are going to close,” Kreider said. “A lot of penalty kills want to pressure so being able to outnumber and come away with the puck off those broken plays more than setting it up.”

Coming away with the puck means being quicker to the puck than the Rangers were on Wednesday. It means winning the puck, which the Rangers did not do nearly enough of in Game 1.

“We have to bring a five-on-five mentality onto the ice when those pucks are loose,” Kreider said. “We’re not waiting around for the picture play.”