LAS VEGAS — Kaapo Kakko skated to the middle of the faceoff circles with his eyes keenly on the puck, which was on the stick of K’Andre Miller at the top of the zone.

Miller released a quick wrister, and Kakko was in perfect position to bat the puck down so that it would bounce through traffic and right through Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson. The first-period goal was the Finnish winger’s first since Nov. 22 and it put his team on top before the Rangers went on to take a 5-1 win over Vegas Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“I think I’ve always said after I score a goal, of course, it feels good,” Kakko said after the win, which improved the Rangers to 13-10-5. “Especially after a little break like that. Feels good. The whole team played very good.”

In the second period of the Rangers’ 6-4 win over the Blues earlier this week, Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere were bumped up to the top line with Mika Zibanejad. That’s how the Rangers lined up again Wednesday night in Vegas, so the opportunities for Kakko to put it all together should now be plentiful — but only if Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant gives the trio a legitimate run, of course.

“I was happy,” Kakko told The Post before the win of getting moved up to the first line. “I think the first two periods [against St. Louis], I didn’t play that much. So that’s not good at all when you’re watching some guys playing a lot and then you are getting little chances and then back on the bench. That’s not what you want to do. I like to play with both of those guys. I’ve been playing with Laffy a long time.

“The first [13] games of the season I played with [Chris Kreider] and Mika. I like those guys, too. Mika was there with us, I know he’s playing a lot. So if you play with him, you’re going to be out there a lot. I was happy about that.”

Kakko is clearly itching for more playing time. An extended look on the right wing of Zibanejad’s line should fulfil his wish.

Just as Gallant appears to be giving the youngsters another top-six opportunity, Vitali Kravtsov was left out of it. After skating in the previous four games, over which he seemingly found some confidence, Kravtsov was a healthy scratch Wednesday night. Barclay Goodrow replaced him on the right wing of Artemi Panarin and Filip Chytil, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Given how the top-six changes had a positive effect on the Rangers’ last game, the matchup with the Golden Knights would’ve been a perfect opportunity to see what Lafreniere-Zibanejad-Kakko and Panarin-Chytil-Kravtsov would look like.

“Because I like him, I think he fits there,” Gallant said of why Goodrow replaced Kravtsov. “Coach’s decision.”

Since he was recalled ahead of the Rangers’ 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks, for which he was a healthy scratch, Jonny Brodzinski has skated in the last two games. Brodzinski centered the fourth line between Sammy Blais and Julien Gauthier

Center Ryan Carpenter was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. … Defenseman Ben Harpur, who was recalled in wake of Zac Jones’ demotion to the AHL, was a healthy scratch for a fourth straight contest.