DeAngelo delivers in first game of preseason

It was a stellar return for Tony DeAngelo, the Rangers defenseman who played his first game of the preseason following his contract holdout and was impressive during a 2-1 shootout win over the Flyers on Thursday night at the Garden.

“I thought Tony played very well,” said coach David Quinn, who gave DeAngelo 22:53 of ice time, paired next to Marc Staal. “I thought he defended well, I thought he had great passes. I just liked a lot about Tony.”

DeAngelo arrived at camp only late last week after the 23-year-old restricted free agent finally signed his oneyear, $925,000 deal. The Rangers have one more preseason game, Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn., against the Islanders, before the regular-season opener on Oct. 3. It’s likely DeAngelo will play again just to make sure he’s ready.

“I think for his sake we should play him again,” Quinn said, “but we haven’t come to that conclusion.”

➤ Kevin Hayes, the former Ranger who signed a seven-year, $50 million deal with the Flyers this summer, thought some of his comments from this past Saturday in Philadelphia were “misunderstood.” He had jokingly said the Rangers “got rid of all the good guys,” adding: “I’m sure it’ll come back to them, but we’ll find out.”

On Thursday, Hayes wanted to clarify.

“I made a couple jokes that didn’t go over too well,” Hayes said. “I think [the Rangers] kind of thought that I was coming at them a little bit. I have no hard feelings with anyone on this team.”

➤ Goalie Henrik Lundqvist ended his preseason on a high note, making 32 saves while playing the whole game. Since the first period of his first game, when he allowed three goals to the Devils, he has surrendered just one goal on the next 56 shots he faced.

“I feel very good technically and physically right now,” Lundqvist said. “I feel ready for the season.”

It’s likely Alex Georgiev will get the whole game in the exhibition finale on Saturday.

➤ Forward Danny O’Regan was assigned to AHL Hartford after he cleared waivers.