Twenty notes from The Maven heading into the Rangers, Panthers Eastern Conference Final.

1. This is hard to believe but; it wasn’t enough for Chris Kreider to be hailed for his Game 6, game-winning hat trick in Raleigh that clinched the Canes series.

2. Somehow, Rangers fans discovered precisely where their hero lives and when Kreider awakened at home and peered out his window, guess what?

3. His nice, green lawn was sprinkled with caps. Or, as one rooter might have said: “Nice Work If You Can Get It – And You Can Get It If You Try.”

4. No doubt Alex Wennberg has been trying hard in his own way since arriving from Seattle. But – for some inexplicable reason – the ex-Kraken center is not working out as hoped; or at least as The Maven had wished.

5. It would not be a sin for Peter Laviolette to bench Wennberg for at least one game, put Fil Chytil in the slot and see what happens.

6. Direct Quote From King Kreider: “We are a competitive group.” Direct quote from The Maven: “So is that Florida team.”

7. Heard in the Panthers locker room: “We stay with the moment. We believe in each other. It’s a privilege to be part of this team.”

8. I know 21 Rangers who feel the same way about being the Blueshirts!

9. This was a time when the Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe was a nobody whose name was misspelled more often than not. He’s now the most underrated left wing in the NHL.

10. Nobody is talking about it but rival general managers Chris Drury and Bill Zito have done equally fabulous jobs with their team-building.

11. Here’s one way of determining the series-winner. It will be the team that wants it more.

12. Advice for Pistol Pete, Lavvy from an admirer who likes your coaching style. “Hey, Pete; if you want to beat Florida your team must raise its compete level!”

13. Or, another: “Bring your ‘A-Plus Game’ every single night; and there should be no let downs as there were with the Canes.”

14. Mark Linde, the vacuum cleaner king of Broadway writes: “I hope that the team that shows up Wednesday is the same as the one that won the third period in Game 6 in Raleigh!’

15. The Great Chico Resch knows goalies. Here’s his take on Iggy Shesterkin: “Igor is not perfect but he doesn’t self-destruct the way Fred Andersen did with theCanes.”

16. Speaking of good Ranger gets, you have to like Jumpin’ Jack Roslovic’s hustle. The Columbus native does more with less press than any Blueshirt.

17. In case you’re interested, Vegas has Florida as the favorites. Then again, last Fall, The Hockey News Yearbook had the Panthers “Cup Odds” at 42-1.

18. One guy told me that the cheapest ticket for Wednesday’s opener will be about 600 simoleons. Which is another way of saying that it pays (in savings) to be a hockey journalist covering the game.

19. Not that it matters to New Yorkers but the Panthers rise to prominence has turned Sunrise, Florida into “Hockeytown Sunshine State”

20. By far the toughest job in this series will belong to the referees!