- What a nifty pass by Ruslan Fedotenko with his skate.  Reminded me of a behind-the-back foot pass by Patrick Elias against the Rangers a few years back (might have been in the playoffs).  Fedotenko was given a training camp invite to see if he could prove that he still has some offensive ability at age 31.  I think he’s done that, and more.

- Marian Gaborik has looked phenomenal in the preseason.  He’s one of the few givens on this team, but sometimes it’s easy to forget just how talented he is.

- Would have been nice to see Vinny Prospal in one of these preseason games.  Looks like certain guys are developing some chemistry and though I think Prospal can fit in a few different spots, I don’t want to see him get shafted because he’s missing games.

- Anyone who suggested that Sean Avery might be one of the odd men out going into the season has to be feeling a little silly right now.  Avery was dominant again tonight.  He’s got tremendous jump in his step, is contributing offensively, and showed his old agitating self against the Devils.  It’ll be interesting to see if he can play this way for a full season.

- Nice little dual between Derek Stepan and Erik Christensen tonight.  One of them will end up centering the top line at the outset of the season, and though Christensen played well between Gaborik and Frolov tonight, Stepan had a bigger impact on the game.  The Christensen/Stepan debate is raging across the internet, and may also be amongst the Ranger coaching staff.  Both played well tonight, and this battle will probably come down to the wire.

- There’s no doubt in my mind that Alex Frolov is the best passer on this team.  He has incredible vision and the ability to put the puck right where the shooter wants it.  For all the debate we’ve had about Stepan and Christensen, the addition of Frolov is probably going to have a far greater effect on Marian Gaborik. 

- Great to see Mike Sauer score a goal tonight.  He has worked awfully hard coming back from injury after injury and keeps returning to near-NHL status.  He’s likely to be a victim of the numbers game with the Rangers, but they’ll have to place him on waivers and some team will surely be interested.  He’ll get a shot somewhere and I won’t be surprised when he earns a full-time NHL job.

- How about Pavel Valentenko?  Kid broke his nose early in the game and came right back.  He came into camp as kind of an unknown, and now he look like a good bet to be a top-four defenseman one day.  It won’t be this year though; he needs to play every day in Hartford.

- Poor Derek Boogaard.  Dude looked totally stunned to find himself in scoring position tonight.  Offense just isn’t in his arsenal.

And for your viewing pleasure, Alexei Kovalev (yes Alexei Kovalev) got into a fight in tonight’s game against Toronto with Francois Beauchemin.  He and Boogaard should swap lessons.