Vitali Kravtsov made his NHL debut Saturday night in Buffalo, another piece in the Rangers’ rebuilding puzzle sliding into place.

Artemi Panarin, who signed the largest contract in franchise history less than two years ago to accelerate the reconstruction, showed the highly anticipated prospect how it’s done, by scoring two goals.

But a late third-period goal from the Sabres for the second game in a row tied the score, spoiling what could’ve been a storybook beginning for the Rangers’ forwards of the future, in a 3-2 shootout loss at KeyBank Center.

The Rangers held a slim one-goal lead with 3:41 left in regulation when Victor Olofsson tied it up 2-2, sending both teams to overtime again after they had played the extra period Thursday (which ended up a 3-2 Rangers win).

After both teams failed to score in the extra period, the Rangers couldn’t beat Sabres netminder Linus Ullmark in the shootout.

The Sabres’ Tage Thompson, however, scored on Igor Shesterkin to give Buffalo its second win in three games after an 18-game losing streak.

“At this point in time in the season, you need to win. You can’t get one point,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said of leaving Buffalo with three points rather than four. “Obviously, we all look at the scores within our division because it’s such a unique year, but we just got to make sure that we correct some of the things we didn’t do well.”

Despite the loss, Kravtsov’s debut gave the Rangers’ youth movement another addition, and the lineup now has five of the Blueshirts’ first-round picks from the last four NHL drafts: Filip Chytil from 2017, K’Andre Miller and Kravtsov from 2018, Kaapo Kakko from 2019 and Alexis Lafreniere from 2020.

The average age of the Rangers’ active roster now stands at 25.2 years old. Does it even need to be pointed out anymore that they have the youngest team in the league?

Kravtsov slotted in on the Rangers’ third line, bringing a whole new meaning to what has been commonly referred to as the kid line. Next to Lafreniere (19) and Chytil (21), the 21-year-old winger logged 10:45 of ice time, with three shots on goal.

“He’s obviously a very good player. He was a little bit nervous at the beginning, played not to make a mistake but also played for the team,” Panarin said. “Had a really good chance at the end, and we’re really happy to have a good player on the team like that.”

Not every NHL debut can be special, but Kravtsov’s presence made it so for the Rangers. And when he nearly won the game with a diving shot shortly after the Sabres’ game-tying tally, it almost was a dream debut. After Kravtsov’s five-game cameo in the preseason last year, in which he recorded a goal and an assist, the Russian native has now proven he’s ready for the NHL.

The Rangers, following a hyperactive start to the first period, slowed things down on the power play when Sabres forward Taylor Hall went to the box for interference. Panarin netted the Rangers’ first man-advantage goal in the last two games with a sharp-angled shot that deflected in off Ullmark for a 1-0 lead.

But Casey Mittelstadt tied it less than three minutes later, converting a 2-on-1 with a wicked wrister that beat Shesterkin stick-side.

The Rangers titled the ice after Panarin notched his second goal of the night, one-timing the puck past Ullmark with just over two minutes left in the second to retake the lead. The Sabres challenged for offside, but lost and were forced to go on the penalty kill to end the period.

From one rebuilding to another, Buffalo managed to steal the show once again late in the game. But the Rangers are closing in on their finished product.

“It’s obviously exciting for our organization. We’ve got these young players playing regular minutes right now,” Quinn said. “But I don’t think many of us are thinking about that right now. We’re thinking about the fact that we weren’t able to get two points.”