Keep this in mind as the opener looms Tuesday night at the Garden against the Lightning — it is not how a team starts, but how it finishes.

Think back to last year, when the Blueshirts pretty much stunk up the joint in D.C., losing Gerard Gallant’s debut behind the bench to the Caps 5-1 in the, all together now, Tom Wilson Revenge Game.

As good an example as that may be, there’s an even better one that comes to mind from 20 years ago, when the Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 4-1 in Bryan Trottier’s coaching debut at the start of the 2002-03 season.

Whoo boy, the good times were about to roll after five straight seasons out of the playoffs.