Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez, out since Jan. 8 with a balky back, stepped out on the ice and skated for the first time this morning prior to the Saturday matinee between the Bruins and Rangers at the TD Banknorth Garden.

“He skated this morning,” said B’s coach Claude Julien, who also said that Fernandez won’t be making the Sunday trip up to Montreal with the rest of the team for tomorrow’s matinee game at the Bell Centre. “We started off slowly with him, and everything went well.”

Today will be the ninth game that Fernandez has missed with a bad back.