NEW YORK – With very few jobs open on the New York Rangers, the rookies took to the ice last night at Madison Square Garden in order to shine for management.

Without Jaromir Jagr, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, or Henrik Lundqvist in the lineup, the younger Blueshirts skated to 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils to open the exhibition season.

And although Brandon Dubinsky may have inched closer to making the team with two assists and receiving the first star, the competition in the net may have become a little murkier.

No Lundqvist – who will be in net tonight against the Flyers – meant both Al Montoya and Stephen Valiquette splitting time in goal with Montoya looking sharper than his older counterpart, although both played well.

“I thought they were good,” said coach Tom Renney. “This was their first real game action as it was for everybody else, so I thought they made very big saves at very important times and then they both decided to break out and play the other way. That’s a timing thing and communication. I thought both were fine.”

Stopping 12 of 13 shots, Montoya shut down the Devil attack with the exception of a goal by Dainius Zubrus almost three minutes into the second, when Montoya played the puck and gave it away to the Devils’ forward, who put it off Darius Kasparaitis’s skate for the tally.

Renney said Montoya needs to learn to communicate with his teammates more before trying to play the puck. “It’s just getting accustomed to your teammates and the level of communication that needs to be there and being a part of that link,” he said. “It’s something that all our goaltenders need to work on. But for me, communication is huge. I think that’s something most young goaltenders need to get their hands on.”

The coach pointed out Valiquette, who was 13-15, was also guilty of playing the puck too much, yet the leading contender for the backup job didn’t pay for it like Montoya. Actually, the 30 year-old was fooled on Brian Gionta’s light of the lamp that made it 4-3 and also let Zach Parise score.

It didn’t seem to bother Valiquette though, since he got his work in.

“The way we are looking at it is that I have to get ready for the regular season,” said Valiquette, who was 1-2-0 with the Rangers last season with a 3.13 g.a.a. “So I am just putting my focus in it for the season and it will take care of itself.”

Very well, but if Montoya keep on impressing will Renney keep him as Lundqvist’s backup or is the job Valiquette’s?

“We will try to make it a competition,” Renney answered. “We bring our people, so they have to know they have a chance here, or why do we do this. The big thing I have to come to grips with is how much opportunity that backup position could considerably get this year and does it pay off for a young player like Al to play that few games or does it make sense to have someone like Stephen who can handle that situation and that may appeal to us.”

That all sounds nice, but the Rangers don’t want the 22 year-old to rot on the bench as Lundqvist plays 70 games. Valiquette said he got used to that role last year and while it’s not an ideal situation for him he will make the most out of it.

And if Valiquette proves to be a capable backup and goes, say, 6-6 [assuming he plays 12 games] then the Blueshirts will live with that, while Montoya toils once again in Hartford. But if he falters, the Rangers have a decision to make. Remember, though, Montoya has a cap number over $1.2 million higher than his counterpart, which will put strain on the team if they need to make a move, so they may look outside the organization for a cheaper alternative if Valiquette fails.

Yet, right now the veteran seems ready. “What [last season] did do is that it gave me the experience to prepare for this season,” Valiquette said. “I had three months to practice with the guys and adapt to the speed of practice to carry it over into games. I enjoyed the experience of being here. I just used that as a stepping stone to get prepared for this year.”

Notes: Six minutes into the game, Lundqvist’s former backup Kevin Weekes was helped off after he hit his head on the cross bar when Sean Avery pushed defenseman Johnny Oduya into him. After the game, the Devils said there was no concussion and Weekes is day-to-day…Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan, Blair Betts and Marty Straka scored for the Rangers, respectively…The Garden got a makeover with a new high definition Gardenvision installed and modern video boards on the façade below the 400 sections behind each goal.