The most excitement Connor Bedard saw in his Madison Square Garden debut with the Blackhawks was the hype surrounding it.

Because from the moment the puck dropped to the final whistle Thursday night, the Rangers were the only main attraction worth seeing in a dominant 4-1 win over Chicago and the highlight-reel-starring 2023 first-overall pick.

Crushing Chicago in nearly every statistical category, aside from hits, the Rangers not only handed the Blackhawks their fourth consecutive loss and their sixth in their last seven, the club reclaimed its first-place spot atop the NHL standings and improved to 10-1-0 after losses this season.

“I thought it was cleaner tonight. The things that we had talked about and gone over, you have to be receptive to it, and they are,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought that the energy was better. You could tell in the morning skate, the energy was good. Just trying to make those small corrections, I thought, were noticeable tonight where we didn’t have to defend quite as much.”

Bedard may have headlined the matchup with his first appearance at the World’s Most Famous Arena, but the Garden faithful had their eyes on Brennan Othmann, the Rangers’ 16th-overall pick in 2021 who made his NHL debut.

After the first period, Othmann led all players on the ice with three shots on goal before finishing with a game-high five while skating alongside Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski.

“I’ve worked 20 years for this,” said Othmann, who will be able to celebrate with his first legal drink on Friday. “It’s a good early birthday present for tomorrow.”

A matchup between the league-leading Blueshirts and the second-to-last-place Blackhawks went how it was supposed to. The Rangers never really relinquished control in this one, even though it was only a one-goal game heading into the third period.

Laviolette had taken issue with the Rangers’ play over the last 20 minutes of Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes, but the Blueshirts bench boss was pleased Thursday night.

The Rangers got a crucial goal from Jacob Trouba just over a minute and a half into the final frame. The captain ripped a tough-angled shot that deflected off the stick of Philipp Kurashev and into the top of Chicago’s net.

Jimmy Vesey then buried a feed from Will Cuylle 1:10 later to give the Rangers a comfortable lead.

“It was good right out of the gate, we talked about that because the goal at the end of the second period — I didn’t like the line change — now it’s a 2-1 game,” Laviolette said. “Those sometimes can [go either way], but I liked the fact that we came out with the right intent right away.”

Vincent Trocheck turned in a three-assist performance for the fourth time this season, giving the Rangers’ second-line center six games with three or more points this season.

It was his body check on Bedard that knocked the rookie off the puck and sprung the Rangers for an odd-man rush in the first period. Accepting the puck from Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere teed up Artemi Panarin for a one-timer in the opposite faceoff circle and the 1-0 lead.

Trocheck also notched the primary assist on Chris Kreider’s 20th goal of the season at the 7:25 mark of the second period, when he cut and put the puck on net during the Rangers’ first power play of the evening.

The puck went in off Kreider’s skate as he stopped, which prompted Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek to wave it off and mimic a kicking motion.

Upon review, however, it was decided there was no distinct kicking motion and the goal was upheld.

The only other Rangers players to record nine or more 20-goal seasons in franchise history are Rod Gilbert (12) and Jean Ratelle (nine).

“I hope he’s still hungry,” Panarin said of Trocheck. “That’s what I like from my partners right now.”