This year, Blueshirts have become road worriers

Last year, the Rangers were the NHL’s best team on the road.

The sample size is still small this season, but so far the Rangers have the fewest road points in the league, something they’re hoping to change starting Wednesday at Ottawa.

“These are huge games for us,” Rick Nash said. “You look at the standings and it’s up and down each night, whether you win or you lose. So going to Ottawa is a tough place to play and we need our best.”

The Rangers have benefitted from a heavy dose of home games early this season and are 12-5-3 at the Garden. But in 10 games away from home, they’re just 4-6-0, a long way away from their 27-12-2 mark on the road last year.

Dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season, the Rangers own the second-most road wins in the NHL with 103.

“You want to play the same way, even if it’s home or away,” Jesper Fast said. “We gotta play the right way.”

Mika Zibanejad skated again Tuesday as an extra defenseman and even took some shifts on the power play, but he won’t travel to Ottawa and will miss a seventh straight game battling back from a concussion.

“He’s coming along real well,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “Today he had a full practice on D. I thought he looked real sharp. I’m looking forward to trying him in the middle here shortly.”

Vigneault said Thursday is a “possibility” for Zibanejad to have a full practice in his regular spot at center.

Henrik Lundqvist can feel for his fellow goalie. Ondrej Pavelec made a season-high 44 saves Monday night against the Stars, only to be handed a shootout loss.

“He was standing on his head,” Lundqvist said. “He stole a point for us. You never know, that extra point could be the difference in the end. It was great to see how he battled.”

Lundqvist has three games this season with 40 saves and two of them have been in losses — both to the Blue Jackets. Pavelec, meanwhile, had to settle for becoming the first Rangers goalie to make 40plus saves in back-to-back appearances, since Dan Blackburn in 2001.

Lundqvist is four saves away from becoming the 15th goalie in NHL history with 20,000.