Rangers and Panthers drop their gloves for a FURIOUS brawl after Vincent Trocheck puts New York on the board in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals

The New York Rangers opened Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Florida Panthers with both a figurative and literal bang.

After losing Game 1 to the visiting Panthers on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, New York got on the board just four minutes into Friday’s action when Vincent Trocheck caught a sublime pass from Adam Fox to beat Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

And that’s when things got violent.

While Fox and Trocheck celebrated the first goal, Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe fired back against New York’s Alexis Lafreniere for an up-ice hit that helped pave the way for the center pass that led to the goal.

“(Matthew) Tkachuk corners Trocheck, Lafreniere jumps into the fray,” exclaimed ESPN color commentator Ray Ferraro amid the chaos. “There are three or four wrestling matches going on!” It’s a perfect start to New York.

While Fox and Trocheck celebrated the first goal, Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe fired back against New York’s Alexis Lafrenière for an up-ice hit.

Alexis Lafrenière of the New York Rangers faces Carter Verhaeghe of the Florida Panthers

Once the dust settled, Tkachuk, Verhaeghe and Lafrenière were all assessed harsh penalties, giving New York a one-man advantage that the Rangers failed to convert.

If things seemed a little more choppy on Friday, it might have been because the Rangers were looking for a way to slow down a Panthers offense that scored three times on Wednesday.

“They have a lot of speed on their team,” K’Andre Miller said after Wednesday’s loss, as quoted by ESPN. “I think limiting their speed throughout the neutral zone, trying to get holdups and trying to give us a little more time to get the puck out of the D zone (are key).

“Obviously when teams come out so hard and put pressure on you with that type of energy, I think it’s about breaking up their forecheck by talking, moving the puck and just trying to be a a little firmer,” he added. “Our execution can be a little better coming out of the D zone.”

To bolster that defense and perhaps give the Panthers something to think about on the ice, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette opted to dress 6-foot-8 rookie bruiser Matt Rempe on Friday.

The 21-year-old winger was inactive in Game 1, but was in action Friday on Laviolette’s fourth line alongside Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow.

Former Rangers players turned analysts Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Hendrik Lundqvist all lobbied for Rempe’s return following Wednesday’s loss.

“Maybe they should think about putting Rempe in the lineup,” Messier said on ESPN.