Aside from having an abundance of skill and a top power-play unit whose members can hold a zone with their eyes closed, the Rangers can be a fast team that overwhelms opponents in all three zones. 

The last few games, however, that identifying trait hasn’t come through as much. Head coach Gerard Gallant called for his team to play faster after its most recent loss, 5-1 to the Blue Jackets, saying the Rangers create more body contact when they’re playing at a high pace. 

“We talked about being an aggressive forechecking team and that’s where you start playing fast,” Gallant said after practice Monday in Tarrytown. “When you can play fast in all zones, you’re a good hockey team. We haven’t looked fast and we haven’t played fast for the good part of the season. 

“It’s six games, but the two games that we did play fast, we looked pretty good.” 

The Rangers, who only lost three games in a row twice last season, need to rediscover their speed sooner rather than later if they want to get back in the win column after back-to-back defeats. It’s the only way they’ll be able to counter the next team on their schedule, the Avalanche, who are one of the quickest and most suffocating teams in the NHL. 

Access the Rangers beat like never before

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.

The season-opening win over the Lightning still represents the complete effort the Rangers are looking to get back to. Even in the two victories that followed, against the Wild and Ducks, the Blueshirts consistently made things happen off a swift transition game. 

When they focus on making the simple passes and causing a ruckus in the offensive zone, the Rangers are simply at their best. 

“Obviously, we have a ton of skill on this team, but I think our strength is still getting in on the forecheck, getting pucks back and then using our skill after that,” Barclay Goodrow told The Post. “I think when we try to make the east-west plays outside the blue lines or before we’re kind of set in the zone, then that leads to turnovers and bad things going the other way. 

“When we are playing fast, we’re being physical, we’re getting in and bothering their D, it’s our style of game and then we let our skill take over after that.” 

There will be two familiar faces — goalie Alexandar Georgiev and winger Dryden Hunt — at the other end of the ice come Tuesday. The Rangers will likely face their former backup netminder of five seasons for the first time since trading the Bulgarian to Colorado in the hours leading up to last summer’s NHL draft. Georgiev has yet to lose in regulation through his first four starts, compiling a 3-0-1 record with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. 

Hunt was practicing with the Rangers just last week before the club waived him in a move to save cap space. The Avalanche pounced on the depth forward in wake of a slew of injuries. 

“They’re going to be a big challenge no matter what time of year you’re playing those guys,” Gallant said of the Avalanche, also 3-2-1. “From Day 1, I’ve talked about the identity of our team and where we want to be, and that’s what we have to get to. First game against Tampa Bay I think we’ve seen our team. Some spots in between the last five games, we’ve seen our team, but not enough. You got to bring your game, you got be consistent and you got to play a full 60 [minutes].”