GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -- Al Montoya had this late summer Saturday in his sights for quite some time.

And not just because alma mater Michigan had a big matchup at No. 2 Notre Dame.

No, the aspiring New York Rangers goalie had his own game to worry about, a morning hockey scrimmage at a practice rink in Westchester County.

When you're a 21-year-old former first-round draft pick coming off shoulder surgery, your first game in training camp is a very big deal.

"I've been practicing a lot, and it was nice to get out there for my first day ... feel like a game-like situation," Montoya said. "I felt good overall."

That wasn't the case in April while playing for Hartford in Game 5 of the first round of the AHL playoffs. Montoya reached to cover a loose puck, spun around and fell awkwardly. The result was a season-ending left shoulder dislocation that halted a very successful first pro season.

The closest Montoya got to the NHL -- except for backup bench duty during a callup -- was occupying the operating room immediately before Jaromir Jagr was wheeled in for surgery to fix a similar shoulder problem.

He didn't see his more famous teammate that day and didn't feel like a warmup act for the surgeon.

"After I got out of the thing, he went in," Montoya said Saturday. "It was good."

And all was still positive Saturday when his repaired shoulder got its first real test. He made about a dozen saves in one period of the first of two scrimmages the Rangers held on the second day of training camp. Montoya was kept out Friday and couldn't wait to show that he was healthy again.

"It is one step in the process," he said. "I just wanted to go out there and feel good, go out there and play my game because I know what I'm capable of doing. Just stop the puck. It definitely feels good but there are a lot more days ahead of me."

The only blemish in Saturday's performance was a penalty-shot goal scored by Hartford teammate Nigel Dawes, who found the net a few times during the day.

"He owes me," Montoya said. "I got him going."

New York chose Montoya with the No. 6 pick in the 2004 draft, a selection made while current Rangers coach Tom Renney was director of player personnel and oversaw the entire amateur scouting operation.

Montoya returned to Michigan and won 30 games during the NHL lockout. He signed a three-year deal with the Rangers last summer.

"We went through the first year, and he knows pretty much the way with technical stuff and everything," goaltending coach Benoit Allaire said. "He'll just get better and better."

The success continued at Hartford as Montoya went 23-9-1 with a 2.61 goals-against average in 40 games. His season was interrupted twice, first when he broke his finger in practice in November and missed 12 games, and again by a groin injury in February -- causing a five-game absence.

"Looking at him today, it looks like he's come back in even better shape than he was last year," said Jim Schoenfeld, the Hartford coach and general manager. "He's a goalie that has some very exceptional raw talent but you have to be technically sound in the position to excel as well, and he has made giant strides in that department."

While he continues to improve, all he has to do is look around and see the attention that Henrik Lundqvist gets to be reminded the Rangers already have a young goalie in place for the foreseeable future.

Lundqvist, 24, burst onto the New York scene last season and grabbed the No. 1 job in his rookie year. He was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the top NHL goalie, and was the first Rangers rookie netminder to win 30 games (30-12-9).

"I don't think young guys should ever be disappointed at having to chase some taillights," Renney said. "I think there is a standard of how to play the position ... we want to raise the bar with every one of our goaltenders.

"If it so happens that Henrik is the guy that sort of identifies with that standard first and foremost and for a longer period of time, that's fine. I think that always serves as motivation."