The Rangers came out flat in their season opener.

But hitting the road for the first time on Thursday, it was a different story.

New York came out with much more energy in Buffalo’s opener at the KeyBank Center, as they outshot the Sabres 10-2 over the first 10 minutes of the contest.

Finally, they were able to find the back of the net, as Alexis Lafreniere battled in front and somehow snuck home a rebound off an Artemi Panarin shot for the first goal of the season.

“Just from an energy standpoint, a lot of the guys felt a whole lot better physically for whatever reason, that’s where it started for us,” Mike Sullivan said. “That might’ve been the best period we’ve played since training camp started.”

But in the second, it was the Sabres who had the energy boost.

The Rangers put themselves down a man three different times in the period, but All-Star goalie Igor Shesterkin made some big-time saves to help keep the slim one-goal advantage.

Shesterkin continued his strong play into the third until the offense put this one away.

Carson Soucy ripped home a wrister to make it 2-0. Minutes later, J.T. Miller deflected a shot from the point to make it a three-goal game, then Adam Fox potted home the empty-netter to officially cap off the victory.

After a quiet opener, Miller finished with a goal and an assist.

Shesterkin was spectacular, stopping all 36 shots to earn his 22nd career shutout.

And for Sullivan, it was his 918th career win, but his first with the Rangers.

“It’s humbling,” he said. “I’ve said this on a number of occasions, it’s an incredible honor to be the head coach of the New York Rangers, a franchise that has such history to it -- for me, it’s just a privilege that I don’t take for granted.

“I think there’s a certain enthusiasm around the team right now, since the start of training camp, that’s been really rewarding from a coaching standpoint -- it’s tangible, we can feel it. I think we’re building a relationship with the players that will be meaningful moving forward, so to get the first win, it means a lot to me.”

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