Quinn’s guys put on clinic in 3-on-3

David Quinn joked that the key to being successful in the NHL’s three-on-three overtime is “talent, because that is legit pond hockey.”

But Tuesday night at the Garden, it was fortitude that first got the Rangers there. The trio of Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Tony DeAngelo were on the ice for the opening 2:06 of the extra period, hardly giving up a scoring chance while hardly having enough energy to reach the bench.

“I wanted to wheel out three oxygen tanks for all three of them, but I don’t think they were going to allow me to do that,” Quinn said. “That happens a lot in overtime.”

When that trio did get off the ice, two rookies showed the talent — with a great pass from Adam Fox to Kaapo Kakko for the gamewinner and a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.

The overtime scenario has been a point of conversation this season after Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella mentioned there was no need for the shootout if the three-on-three happens to go over the allotted five minutes. There might end up being a rare outlier game that drags on and on, but for the most part, Tortorella is right.

In the 542 games that needed extra time in 2018-19 season, 368 (85 percent) ended in overtime. Figuring out how to win them could eventually prove valuable in the standings.

“There are a bunch of things you can be aware of,” Quinn said, “but really, at the end of the day, it is an NHL version of pond hockey.”

Quinn first saw it last season, his first behind the Rangers bench, when they went 3-9 in the three-onthree, the second-worst record in the league behind the Avalanche (who went 3-12 and still made the playoffs). They were 6-5 in the shootout.

Tuesday was just the third time this the season the Rangers needed extra time. In the first two, they lost in overtime to the Coyotes on Oct. 22, then lost a shootout Sunday night to the Panthers.

But Tuesday also turned out to be when their talent was so abundantly in evidence.

“Just a heck of a play by Fox,” Quinn said.

It also took quite a bit of confidence for Quinn to put Fox and Kakko — along with Pavel Buchnevich — out for the next shift following the first group’s deoxygenating battle. But he went back to that original reason for success in overtime — talent.

“How’d it work out?” Quinn joked. “Because they’re good. They deserve to be out there. They’re good players and they deserved that opportunity.”