Through nearly half of this breakout season, the Rangers have acted the part of a top team. They have done what the best teams do: Handle the soft part of their schedule masterfully.

In 22 games against opponents that wouldn’t qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today, the Blueshirts have won 16. Their focus hasn’t waned against inferior competition. Their intensity hasn’t dropped. They haven’t overlooked anyone.

It is the overriding reason coach Gerard Gallant’s team sits atop the Metropolitan Division, well exceeding expectations. But now comes a series of litmus tests, a number of challenges that will reveal a lot about this group.

Of the next 12 games, eight are against playoff teams. Against such competition, the Rangers are 9-7-1, which is strong. But that sample size is about to increase.

“We’ve talked about it. Coming down this stretch, this is the time to start preparing for the playoffs,” forward Ryan Reaves said on Tuesday following practice. “You’re going to be playing, obviously, playoff teams. … We got to put our best games out there and we got to prove to ourselves that not only are we a playoff team based on the standings, but we’re ready to make a run at it.

“You can’t do that by just beating the teams that are out of the playoffs. You got to play playoff teams hard, you got to play them physical. Sometimes you got to push them out of the building a couple of games, just to prove you have a little bit of swagger in you.”

It starts Wednesday at the Garden against the Maple Leafs. It includes meetings with the powerhouse Panthers, tied for the most points in the NHL with the Lightning, and Western Conference contending Kings and Blues. The Hurricanes and Penguins, both nipping at the Rangers’ heels in the Metropolitan Division, are on the docket on the road.

“This little stretch before the All-Star break, and then coming out of the All-Star break, is really important for us, for sure,” Reaves said.

The good news for the Rangers (25-10-4, 54 points) is though the level of competition will get tougher, they are getting healthier. Igor Shesterkin, Artemi Panarin, Julien Gauthier and Reaves have all recently come off the COVID-19 protocol list. Forward Barclay Goodrow returned to practice on Tuesday, and Dryden Hunt (upper-body injury) was taken off injured reserve. Forward Alexis Lafreniere could be the next player to rejoin the team. Despite key absences, the Rangers have found a way to keep winning, with six victories in their past eight games and a 3-2-0 stretch on the just-completed five-game road trip.

“Obviously, we’re in first place in our division — real good division — so I’m real happy,” Gallant said. “I’m not surprised at all. Do I look at the other teams and say, ‘They’re real good hockey teams?’ Yeah. When I came to this team [during the offseason, I knew we had a good team, I knew we had good goaltending. I like what we’re doing, I like where we are, but I’m not surprised.”

He’ll get an even better idea in the weeks to come just how good this group is. Several tests await.