Just three shifts into his first NHL game in nearly a year and a half, Vitali Kravtsov suffered an upper-body injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the Rangers’ 3-1 opening night win over the Lightning at Madison Square Garden.

Kravtsov, who started Tuesday night on the second line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, was hit by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and appeared to be shaken up early in the first period.

After slowly skating over to the bench while crouched over, the 22-year-old retreated to the locker room, where he remained for the rest of the game.

“He’s day-to-day,” head coach Gerard Gallant said after the game. “We’ll evaluate him [Wednesday]. You can never tell much early on after the game.”

As a result of the injury, the Rangers played most of the game with 11 forwards and Gallant had to jumble up his lines almost right away. Alexis Lafreniere primarily replaced Kravtsov on the second line, while Jimmy Vesey was bumped up to the third unit with Filip Chytil and Barclay Goodrow, who was double shifting with the fourth line, as well.

Zac Jones, skating on opening night for the first time in his career, took Kravtsov’s spot on the second power-play unit.

The Rangers were already without Sammy Blais, who suffered an upper-body injury in their preseason finale against the Islanders.

While the team is maintaining that Blais’ undisclosed injury isn’t serious, going down two forwards this early in the season is not ideal. The next forward up would be Dryden Hunt, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday.

The last time the Rangers played the Lightning, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final this past June, Kaapo Kakko watched from the press box. He was a healthy scratch that night in a surprising move by Gallant, who later said it was just about dressing the best possible lineup.

Four months later, not only was Kakko in the lineup, but also he was on the right wing of the top line, with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

“I think he’s going to be a confident guy,” Gallant said before the game. “He came to training camp and played a great training camp. … I think it’s more about the way he came to camp and played. I think he scored three goals in camp, so he’s real confident from that. … I’m sure he’s excited to play with those guys, but if he was playing with [Chytil and Lafreniere], he’d be just as happy. He’s played well at camp and he deserves a chance.”

Kakko was strong on the puck in the victory Tuesday, often dominating the battle along the boards and effectively digging the puck out of crowded areas. He finished with a blocked shot and a hit in 13:37 of ice time.

The Rangers signed Canadian goaltender Talyn Boyko to a three-year, entry-level deal.