WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Rangers were in the hunt for their first 3-0 start to the season since 2015-16 … until late in the third period Friday night, when a late push helped the Jets prevail in their season opener.

Sam Gagner, the 33-year-old journeyman whom the Jets picked up in the offseason, scored in his Winnipeg debut with roughly 4 ½ minutes remaining in regulation to jump-start his team’s three-goal third period and hand the Rangers their first loss of the season, a 4-1 defeat.

The Jets had fresh legs under them in comparison to the Rangers, who were a bit sluggish at the start on the second night of a back-to-back and their third game this week. But after playing on their heels and falling behind 1-0 in the opening frame, it was all Rangers in the second period and most of the third.

Dryden Hunt — yes, the left wing who started the season as the Rangers’ 13th forward — tied the score at one-all just under four minutes into the final period. Taking a slick turnaround pass from Vincent Trocheck, Hunt settled the puck with his skate before roofing it over Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

But after Gagner’s tally put the Jets back on top 2-1, Rangers captain Jacob Trouba was called for a delay-of-game penalty for flipping the puck over the glass. Jets forward Mark Scheifele capitalized on the late power play and scored his second of the night before Kyle Connor capped the scoring with an empty-netter.

“We were not great in the first, I thought we played a real good second and then the third, I think we ran out of gas,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said after the loss. “We made a lot of mistakes in the defensive zone, which usually happens from mental mistakes and tired mistakes. We created a lot of chances, but we just gave up way too much.”

The Rangers could have become discouraged after their 21-7 edge in shots in the second period resulted in zero goals, but they pushed on. And even when their seemingly automatic top power-play unit couldn’t capitalize on either of two opportunities throughout the night, the Rangers did not let it faze them and managed to stay in it until the end.

Still, as the Rangers’ team defense slipped in the final minutes, so did the game, giving the club a 2-1-0 start to the 2022-23 season.

“I wasn’t disappointed with our offensive output, I was disappointed with the defense,” Gallant said. “And that’s not defensemen, that’s defensive game.”

The Rangers were down to 11 forwards for the second time in three games after Ryan Carpenter suffered a brutal skate cut to his neck/ear area toward the end of the second period. That forced the fourth-line center to retreat to the locker room for the remainder of the game. Gallant didn’t have much of an update on Carpenter, but said he was doing OK.

Even when the Rangers were at full strength, Hellebuyck put on a show at the other end of the ice, stopping 40 of the 41 shots he faced. Particularly in the second period, Hellebuyck denied the Rangers at every turn to maintain the Jets’ lead.

Gallant made a point to mention that Jaroslav Halak had a strong game of his own in his Rangers debut in goal. Halak made 30 saves on 33 shots and certainly gave the Rangers a chance to get back into the game after he gave up the first goal of the contest to Scheifele at 10:29 of the first period.

“I think we could’ve done a better job around the net,” Mika Zibanejad said. “I think we created a lot of good opportunities, but I think the second and third chances we could’ve gotten a little bit more out of.”