Evolving Hayes has defensive presence

OTTAWA — If you asked two years ago where Kevin Hayes would be most utilized in the 2017 playoffs, a defensive-zone draw while holding a tight lead would not have been the first guess — if at all.

Nevertheless, as the Rangers center readies for his 25th birthday Monday, he also appreciates how his game has evolved. Once just a skill player with terrific hands and vision, Hayes now prides himself in the way he plays in his own zone, and it hardly bothered him that he didn’t have a goal yet through the first 10 games of the postseason.

“I feel good where I’m at,” Hayes told The Post after his team’s practice in Tarrytown on Friday before they left for Ottawa, where they are set to take on the Senators in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series Saturday afternoon.

“I think I’ve taken more of a defensive role here, take a lot of ‘ D’ zone face-offs. Definitely focusing on defense a little bit. When I’m on the ice, the other team’s not scoring.”

There have been good games and bad games from Hayes this ppostseason, and he has been on for ththree goals against in the first four ggames against Ottawa after being on for four goals against in the first round against Montreal.

Yet he held an even plus-minus rrating in the postseason, meaning he had been on for seven Rangers goals, while he has collected two assists.

It hasn’t always been the smoothest relationship between Hayes and coach Alain Vigneault, so infamously coming to a head when he was made a healthy scratch for two straight games in the middle of the 2015-16 season.

“I think Kevin has been working extremely hard at both ends of the rink,” Vigneault said Friday. “His line, I’ve sent on a lot for defensive-zone face-offs, especially on the left side. I think for the most part, he’s done well.

“I’d like him to shoot the puck a little more now and then. That would be a positive. We’re giving him that feedback. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s trying real hard right now.”