Hayes now heading down ice ready and waiting to let shot loose

DON’T get Kevin Hayes wrong. While the Rangers’ center readily acknowledges that he is “a pass-first type of player,” No. 13 isn’t on a mission to feed everyone else while he himself goes hungry.

“No, it’s not like that,” Hayes said, laughing a winner’s laugh following the Blueshirts’ convincing 4-1 victory over the Ducks at the Garden. “I’d love to score three goals a game. Goal-scorers get paid in this league.”

Tuesday night, Hayes shot the puck. Not once, not twice, not three or four times, but five times he launched it. Four were on net. One entered it, a rising wrister from the left dot off a cross-ice feed from Mats Zuccarello that beat John Gibson short side to give his team a 2-0 lead at 0:38 of the second period.

It was nearly a mirror image of the goal he scored on Friday against the Kings in beating Jonathan Quick up top to the far side from the right circle.

“I don’t not shoot because I have a bad shot,” said Hayes, who was wide open to receive the pass af- ter jumping on in a quick change for J.T. Miller. “There are times I come to the bench and just shake my head because I know I should have shot instead of passed, and it’s something I’m working on, but it’s very instinctual.”

Even with a 58 percent defensivezone start ratio, as he’s assumed the role of a checking center on a team that aims to unleash its speed and skill all night, the rangy 6-foot-5 Boston College product is actually getting the puck on net more often this season, averaging two shots per game as opposed to the 1.6 average he recorded through his first three seasons.

“When I’m coming down two-onone, I look to see whether the defenseman is a lefty or righty and I make my decision accordingly,” said Hayes, who has eight goals and an 11.8 shooting percentage. “The point is to make the right play, but lately I am trying to shoot more. I know there were a couple of times in Boston [on Saturday] where I probably should have shot instead of passed, so I am aware of it.”

The Rangers played a sharp and aware final 40 minutes in what became their third straight victory after a first period in which they yielded both too much good ice and 16 shots on net. But Henrik