by Rich Chere/

Devils coach Brent Sutter twice made an example of Fedor Fedorov during Tuesday morning's practice on the main ice rink at the Prudential Center, but the skilled forward dismissed the on-ice criticism as perfectly normal.

At one point after the player failed to poke the puck out of his own zone, Sutter raised his voice and said: "Mr. Fedorov, get the puck out."

Later, using assistant coach John MacLean as the messenger, Sutter asked Fedorov to skate to center ice for a few private words while the rest of the players waited.

"It's the coach-player relationship," Fedorov said. "Meaning: He says, I do. Nothing unusual.

"It was a high-intensity practice. We're getting ready for a game. I have to get better at some things we're working on."

Fedorov, who skated with Petr Vrana and Nicklas Bergfors in Monday night's 4-1 preseason loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia, will play again Wednesday night against the Rangers at the Rock.

Although he played for the Rangers, Fedorov said he holds no animosity.

"No. I'm just going to play my game," he said. "Stone cold. It's in the past."

As for his line's first game in Philly, the left winger said: "I think we did a lot of good things and I think we made a few mistakes. It was the first game of the season. We've got to get a little better."

While some Russian players have gone from the NHL to the new Kontinental League, Fedorov is back in North America hoping to make the Devils.

"I had a good opportunity to come here," he said. "I l ike living in the States. My family is here. I grew up here."

In addition to the Fedorov-Vrana-Bergfors line, it appears the Devils will use Jay Pandolfo-John Madden-David Clarkson; and Jon DiSalvatore-Rod Pelley-Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond against the Rangers. The defense pairings: Bryce Salavador-Paul Martin, Anssi Salmela-Andy Greene and Matthew Spiller-Jay Leach.