Opposing scouts lining up for Rangers’ surging trade bait

There had to be some semblance of relief after this one, when the Rangers finally broke out of their offensive malaise and were able to leave for the season’s first long road trip with a little bit of a good feeling.

So it was as much the 5-2 victorious result over the Panthers on Tuesday night at the Garden as it was the way it came about — and who was behind it. With two goals apiece from Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad, the Blueshirts now leave for a four-game swing from Chicago to California with a lightness that might be rare during this season of rebuilding.

“It’s nice to score,” first-year head coach David Quinn said after his Rangers (3-5-1) picked up their first regulation victory of the season, the other wins coming in overtime and a shootout. “It’s nice to win a game that you’re not on the edge of your seat.”

What was maybe nicer for general manager Jeff Gorton was Zuccarello had his most productive game of the season when the press box was conspicuously jammed with scouts from all over the league. The 31-year-old Norwegian has always been a fan favorite, but he is unquestionably one of Gorton’s biggest trade pieces come the Feb. 25 deadline, a pending unrestricted free agent in the final year of his deal with a $4.5 million salary-cap hit.

Any coming sell-off is not what the Rangers want to think about right now, but whenever Zuccarello’s name comes up, it is going to be very difficult to avoid.

“I’ve been here for a long time now, and [the admiration from the fans is] mutual. I love being on the ice here, being in New York,” Zuccarello said after scoring his first two goals of the season on his only two shots of the game. “This has been my team my whole career, so obviously I have a lot of love for this city and the fans and the building. It’s a privilege to go out there every night and play for this team.”

Zuccarello got bumped up in the lineup for this one, going to the right side of the top line alongside Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Quinn explained the move in hopes of getting more offense out of his top trio, as the Blueshirts came into the game ranked 26th in the league, averaging 2.25 goals per game.

Yet they came out in the first period flat as could be, and were lucky to be down just 1-0 after Vincent Trocheck beat backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev for a power-play goal at 18:15 of the first. But after some stern talk in the locker room at intermission, it was the special teams that helped boost the Blueshirts — a terrific shorthanded goal from Zibanejad at 3:10, followed by a power-play goal from Zuccarello at 11:36 and another on the man-advantage from Zibanejad at 16:08, making it 3-1 going into the third.

“That first period was the first stinker we’ve had in a while,” Quinn said. “Not saying we played great tonight, but find a way to win — that’s what we have to do. You’re not going to have 82 great nights. You have to find ways to win when you’re not on your ‘A’ game.”

Zuccarello then scored 1:27 into the third period on a long wrist shot that should have been stopped by Michael Hutchinson — the fourth goal allowed by the minor leaguer on 19 shots and the one that got him sent to the bench and replaced by James Reimer. The lead was cut to 4-2 when Mike Hoffman scored on a wraparound that Georgiev surely would want back, but Kevin Hayes put one into Florida’s empty net in the final minute to seal the deal.

It left the Rangers feeling good about themselves for the moment, and the same could be said for Zuccarello — whose smiles on Broadway might be few and far between here on out.

“I think we managed to play well for two periods and we got the win,” Zuccarello said. “That’s the most important thing.”