It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. Even if coach Peter Laviolette inserts Matt Rempe to try to provide a spark, his team must respond to the Panthers’ challenge tonight.

There’s no doubt that they must play with more urgency. That means matching their opponent’s intensity. Too many battles were lost in the 3-0 shutout defeat in Game 1.

Even though it took until there were less than four minutes left in the first period for Matthew Tkachuk to beat Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers were on their heels. They had trouble with the relentless Panthers’ forecheck. Their aggressiveness caused turnovers and made it difficult for the Rangers to have clean breakouts.

Florida plays a very heavy game. They pinch their defensemen and hit hard. The Rangers must be on their toes to counter that style.

If they can chip pucks behind the Panthers, that could create odd man rushes in transition. Braden Schneider had one such opportunity following the Tkachuk goal. He took a Kaapo Kakko outlet and went in alone on Sergei Bobrovsky but hit the goalpost.

Will Cuylle had another chance later when he got behind the Florida defense and got a breakaway. Bobrovsky turned him away. Cuylle needs to play more than the seven and a half minutes he received on Wednesday night. He was effective due to his physicality. In limited duty, he had four hits. The Rangers need more of that if they want to send the series back to Florida  even.

It was easy to see that Adam Fox struggled again the other night. The knee on knee hit he took from Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen in Game 4 of the first round seems to have limited his effectiveness. A hobbled Fox had trouble skating back for a puck when the Rangers’ net was empty.

Fox remains the most important skater for the Blueshirts. If he’s less than 100 percent, it’ll be tough for them to be successful. They don’t have another defenseman who can log the important minutes he does. He is the quarterback on the power play. He also kills penalties with K’Andre Miller on a unit that blanketed the Panthers in three chances.

More than that, Fox is the heady player who can skate the puck up in transition and make a difference. He can jump-start an offense that didn’t have enough Grade A chances against Bobrovsky. If he’s good enough to play, he has to make an impact.

Whether or not Laviolette decides to play Rempe and scratch Kakko, that’s only a small change. It’s up to the Rangers’ best players to step up their game tonight.

That means better games from Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Artemi Panarin. Panarin’s line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere spent some time generating chances in the Panthers zone. But they went a combined -8.

Lafreniere came the closest to tying it. But had his rebound hit the goalpost in the third period. He later had the misfortune of putting Carter Verhaeghe’s centering pass into his own net. That took the wind out of their sails. It wasn’t on him totally. Shesterkin turned over the puck right to Verhaeghe, who then tried to get it across for Tkachuk when Lafreniere accidentally put it past his own goalie.

Laviolette needs to have more patience than he did in Game 1. In the frantic third, he double shifted Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider, Trocheck, and Lafreniere. That meant he didn’t trust the rest of his forwards enough. They were only down one goal. He can’t do that. That’s not how the Rangers had success this season.

If there’s one thing they can change, it’s to be quicker than their opponent. Get pucks deep and forecheck. Something that was uncommon except for a couple of shifts. Be the aggressor. It’s important for them to get out to a good start. That’ll get the crowd into it. They can feed off the energy.

Regarding the hit Filip Chytil took from Niko Mikkola in the waning seconds on Wednesday, the Rangers must deliver a strong response. They can do it with how they play. That means scoring first and targeting Mikkola with clean checks. They must pick their spots wisely.

This isn’t like the first two rounds. The Rangers are playing from behind. They know the significance of this game. Play like you mean it. Most importantly, come out with the victory. Let the Panthers know they’re in for a series.