A year ago, the 1-3-1 came to life in a victorious season opener in Buffalo and served as the template for Peter Laviolette’s first season behind the bench en route to the Presidents’ Trophy.

That game, a year later on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, was a masterstroke in the 6-0 loss to the Penguins, where Igor Shesterkin put the team over early with several brilliant saves before the Rangers made a thunderous strike with all four lines at least one Goal.

And that can serve as a template for 2024-25, a season in which Laviolette has vowed to get more players involved in the game in more situations. So there was Will Cuylle dipping his toes into the penalty shootout. There was Kaapo Kakko on the second power play unit and also K’Andre Miller.

Alexis Lafreniere was on fire, scoring a great goal, just like he did in last year’s opener, which heralded the No. 13’s breakthrough season. Filip Chytil, who danced and engaged all night, fired a shot under the crossbar in the first period, scoring his first regular season goal since March 28, 2023.

Chris Kreider scored two goals, including his tenth shorthanded goal in the league since the start of the 2021/22 season, and the decision to use No. 20 on penalties is, incidentally, the gift that former head coach Gerard Gallant left to his successor. If Kreider is not on Team USA for Four Nations, the US House of Representatives should convene hearings.

Vincent Trocheck fought and scored. Cuylle had a strong evening, as did Kakko, who was stoned twice by goalkeeper Tristan Jarry. Artemi Panarin made a brilliant defensive play high in the zone to free Lafreniere. The new-look pairing of Braden Schneider-Jacob Trouba was outstanding.

Of course things look a little different with a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes, but the ice time distribution was egalitarian as the forwards were squeezed in between 9:52 for Jonny Brodzinski and 17:59 for Trocheck. Victor Mancini logged 17:27 of ice time in his NHL debut and certainly didn’t look out of place.

I didn’t particularly like the Rangers’ last week of camp. I thought it had stalled. The unique scenario with the Devils didn’t help. But Laviolette’s message didn’t fade. The trainer spoke daily about the importance of each session. He talked – and I’ve mentioned this several times – about the importance of rookie games. He relates to this more than any other coach in my experience.

From Laviolette’s lips to the opening night lineup card, in which Mancini was on D and Brodzinski and Adam Edstrom flanked fourth-line center Sam Carrick while Matt Rempe sat in the stands as a healthy scratch. Do you know why? Because both Brodzinski and Edstrom Rempe clearly outplayed during camp.

In fact, Laviolette never even hinted at it – maybe he’s not quite Yankees manager Aaron Boone, but shaming people isn’t this head coach’s style – but I don’t think the Rangers were thrilled with Rempe’s camp.

“This isn’t about scratching anyone,” Laviolette said after the morning skate, when it became clear that Rempe would be, er, scratched. “This is about, sometimes it’s about the opponents, sometimes it’s about the game.

“I think Jonny had a really good camp. He brings speed, points, he plays different positions. I think Edstrom speaks for itself. He’s in the same boat as Mancini. He did everything right. He was tall, he was physically active, he was fast.

“Really hard to ignore.”

From Laviolette’s lips to the scoreboard as Carrick moved forward after he and Brodzinski combined to win a puck battle in the left corner and deflected Trouba’s shot from the right dot to score the club’s first goal of the season at 2:24. Good job in the trenches.

Listen, the Penguins could be a punching bag, so there’s no reason to get carried away by the most decisive opening win in franchise history and the first shutout victory since The Gumper shut out the Blackhawks on October 12, 1956 in Chicago.

But if this serves as a template like it did last year in Buffalo, this could be the start of something big.