A Rangers win, a Knicks loss and the anti-climaxes of our promising night

The Rangers rolled. The Knicks were flattened. Maybe you began to inch forward, but you probably never reached the edge of your seat.

One of the more significant nights in New York sports of the year — a Knicks Game 2, a Rangers-Devils Game 1 and the Yankees and Mets in regular-season action — featured a bit of everything on Tuesday, except drama.

The NBA and NHL playoffs can be beautiful and electric — and sometimes lopsided, too.

There was never much of a doubt on the other side of the Hudson River, where the Rangers sent an immediate message at the Prudential Center.

Less than five minutes in, K’Andre Miller fed Vladimir Tarasenko in front of the net, and the vital pickup from the Blues buried a shot for an early edge that would only grow.

Less than five minutes later, Chris Kreider scored his first of two power-play goals, the Rangers taking advantage where the Devils consistently failed: New Jersey had a man-advantage four times, and did not even muster a shot attempt.

The Rangers added a third in the second period, on a Ryan Lindgren wrister. The third period was joyous (for Rangers fans) or joyless (for Devils fans), but never in the balance: The Devils only would break up Igor Shesterkin’s shutout late in the period with a penalty shot from Jack Hughes.

Shesterkin (27 saves) was excellent, as was the defense in front of him (23 blocked shots, compared with the Devils’ 12). The Rangers got four assists from Adam Fox and won, 5-1, as a team, just like the Knicks lost, 107-90, as a team.

The best that can be said about Tom Thibodeau’s crew is it is coming back to the Garden for Games 3 and 4 with the series tied. They are returning home having done their job — stealing a game on the road — but lacking momentum, possibly confidence and probably health after a thorough, painful destruction Tuesday night.

The Knicks trailed by 20 at the half, when Darius Garland exploded for 26 of his 32 points, and Cleveland led by as many as 29.

The Cavs (42.4 percent from 3) outshot the Knicks (24.1 percent) as well as out-rebounding, out-assisting and out-blocking them. Jalen Brunson and Co. were physically dominated, too.

Former Net Jarrett Allen crushed Brunson on a first-half screen, and Brunson (1-for-8 from 3) seemed in a daze throughout. Josh Hart, who was listed as “doubtful” a day prior with a sprained left ankle, somehow played anyway — but was a non-factor and a game-worst minus-29. In a particularly on-the-nose moment, Quentin Grimes absorbed an accidental shot to the mouth from Danny Green and had to tend to a bleeding lip.

Julius Randle was holding his elbow after falling hard in the first half, then remained in a decided game for the final minutes because his coach will never accept defeat.

With the Knicks down 23 and 2:22 left, Randle went up for a breakaway dunk. Allen contested and, in the process, took out Randle’s legs from under him. Randle landed hard by the stanchion, and it is remarkable he was able to get back up.

Maybe you missed the play because there was little on the line at that point apart from stat-padding, and you flipped on the Yankees game — which also featured little excitement past the first inning.

Shohei Ohtani, who clearly likes the big stage, drilled a two-run home run against Clarke Schmidt in the top of the first, giving the Angels a lead they would not give up en route to a 5-2 win.

Maybe you stayed up late to see the Mets play in Los Angeles, where — of course — the Dodgers went up 2-0 in the first inning on a J.D. Martinez home run and strolled to a 5-0 win in which the Mets totaled four hits and barely threatened.

It was that kind of night for New York sports fans: On an evening that started with plenty of promise, if you watched the first inning (or period or half), you saw all you needed to see.

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The Yankees’ position prayers

Baseball Reference generates a handy tool that lays out at which positions a team is receiving its most and least value. Using the website’s version of Wins Above Replacement — essentially, how helpful a player is — the graphic provides a snapshot into where teams are struggling and where they excel.

Let’s highlight the Yankees and see where they stack up.

No need to zoom in on all those tiny boxes below, but note the couple areas in which the Yankees (who ranked fourth in collective WAR) are at the bottom, and their weaknesses become apparent: The hitters they trust the least — the catchers and pinch-hitters off the bench — have been poor.

Going into a 5-2 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night, the Yankees’ catchers and bench each was statistically the third-worst in baseball.

Start with the catching duo, which was a strength last season, when catching defense indexed more heavily toward pitch framing. Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka are two of the best in baseball at turning borderline pitches into strikes, but they historically have not been the strongest at throwing out runners.

Trevino’s arm was a problem with the Rangers before the Yankees placed him on a plyometrics program that bumped up his velocity last season by 3 or 4 miles per hour. This year, he has mostly kept the strength gains, but his accuracy has been less reliable in the early going. The Yankees (0-for-13) and Royals (0-for-8) are the only teams that have not thrown out an attempted base-stealer.

Neither Trevino nor Higashioka has a gun of an arm, which was less of an issue when teams ran less frequently. Under this season’s tweaked rules that encourage base-stealing, the Yankees have been hurt by having catchers with stronger reputations for stealing strikes than for nabbing base-stealers.

Offensively, the pairing is batting below the Mendoza line (.193) with three total home runs. Teams can navigate around weak spots in the lineup from catchers, but having a potent bench would make that navigation more smooth.

The Yankees’ pinch-hitters have been DJ LeMahieu, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Willie Calhoun, Aaron Hicks and Franchy Cordero. None has gotten a hit.

The sample size — five at-bats — is tiny, but it does hint at a potential issue down the road. The Yankees’ bench does not have a traditional lefty masher, righty masher or even a speed demon able to steal a bag.

Instead, the Yankees’ bench is mostly storing players who can’t be sent to Triple-A and who don’t have clear roles.

Kiner-Falefa, last year’s shortstop, is now playing everywhere, which would be more useful if Oswaldo Cabrera were not around. Cabrera has hit, and Kiner-Falefa has not.

Hicks is owed about $30 million through 2025, which explains why he is playing little but still on the club. Cordero and Calhoun are fighting for playing time against righties, Cordero more successfully.

It is April, so there is plenty of time — for the Yankees’ catchers to further emphasize slowing base-runners and for the Yankees to figure out how to best use their bench. But in the first three weeks of the season, neither has been a strength.

Damar Hamlin’s new position: returner

Damar Hamlin’s good friend was wrecked by football.

David Adams, a star linebacker a year behind Hamlin at Central Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, ended up at Notre Dame, but never played a game. His injuries ranged from concussions to torn labrums to a torn UCL to a knee surgery, and he never could get medically cleared to take the football field after his high-school glory years.

But Adams, speaking in January while his pal fought for his life, said he held nothing against the game, which “has been such a blessing in my life.”

When football seeps into a person’s veins, it’s impossible to extract. The game is a part of them, no matter the toll.

So of course Hamlin wants to play again.

About three and a half months after the Bills defensive back suffered cardiac arrest on the field after making a tackle, Hamlin said he plans to return to the field.

“My heart is still in it,” Hamlin told reporters Tuesday from the Bills’ facility in Orchard Park. “My heart is still in the game. I love the game. It’s something I want to prove to myself, not nobody else.

“I just want to show people that fear is a choice, and you can keep going in something without knowing what’s at the end of the tunnel.

“You might feel anxious or any type of way, but you just keep putting your right foot in front of the left foot, and you keep going.”

It is remarkable that Hamlin is alive, and he cannot be counted out. The guess here, though, is it will be easier for Hamlin to play again than it will be for plenty of football viewers to watch him play again.