Practice Notes: Murray practicing, cleared for full contact

Ryan Murray feels the closest he's been to returning from his upper-body injury as he's felt since leaving the lineup in late November.
The Blue Jackets' defenseman joined another full team practice Monday at Nationwide Arena, is cleared for full contact and said afterward that he's feeling good.
"Everyone just wants to play," said Murray, who last played Nov. 27 in Montreal. "I'm no different. I want to be out there playing. It's been a long process, and I just want to get back out there. That's my only focus."
Murray will make the trip for the Blue Jackets' upcoming road back-to-back set against the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and Wednesday. He doesn't know if he'll play in either game, but said he feels as good from a physical conditioning standpoint.
"I mean, my body fat's stayed low, weight stayed good … lost a little bit of footwork and stuff like that, but that usually comes back pretty quick after some practices," he said. "So, I feel pretty good. At practice, there's times when your legs feel a little heavy, but for the most part I'm actually surprised how good I feel out there. It's been pretty good."
What hasn't been good is sitting out so long, with ebbs and flows throughout the recovery process.
This is the second time since the injury occurred that Murray has appeared close to returning. He was feeling better in early January, as well, but had a setback Jan. 10, after joining the team for a practice in Buffalo.

He stopped skating again for a couple weeks, and just got back on the ice in early February.
"It hasn't made a lot of sense," Murray said. "All the MRIs and stuff were clean. Everything looked good. So, I don't know what the issue has been, really. For the most part, it's felt really good for the past little while and skating, and everything else, so it's positive. It's been good."
Murray was off to a good start to the season. Playing left point on the third pairing and logging minutes on the power play, he had five points (one goal, four assists) in 24 games, a plus-7 plus/minus rating and averaged 17:27 a game.
Then, it all came to a halt after leaving the game early in the Jackets' 3-1 loss to the Canadiens on Nov. 27 at the Bell Centre. He's missed two-plus months and counting.
"It's not fun, you know, regardless of how the team is doing," Murray said. "You don't want to be sitting there, especially when you can't train and you can't get back in the lineup. It sucks. Everyone just wants to play. So, for me, I'm just working on my health and making sure that when I do come back, it's going to be 100 percent good to go the rest of the way. We have it in a really good spot right now, and we want to continue that."
News & Notes
I: ANDERSON'S CHECKING ROLE A SMASH HIT
It's been four games, plus the third period of the Blue Jackets' 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 2, since forward Josh Anderson was moved off the top line.
The rationale behind the switch, which sent to the third line, was to get Anderson more physically involved by putting him with gritty forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner. Columbus coach John Tortorella didn't think Anderson was getting enough chances to chase the puck and use the full force of his 6-foot-3, 221-pound frame.
Anderson has responded with two goals in the past four games, including his team-leading 17th in the Jackets' 6-0 victory Saturday against the Devils. That one made it 3-0 in the second period and gave Columbus its first three-goal lead since Dec. 20 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Josh forgot about that part of the game," Tortorella said. "You can see that he's making a concentration on [it], and trying to bang, trying to get involved in it. I thought he had the puck more the last game. So, it's a little bit of a reminder."
Anderson has 103 hits in 53 games, which puts him on pace to slightly surpass his career-high of 147 in 78 games last season - when he played primarily on the third line. He's also taken 72 hits this season, according to naturalstattrick.com, and is on pace to easily surpass the 86 hits he absorbed last season.
"I don't really think it's [being] lower in the lineup," Anderson said. "I just think it's just getting back to doing the things that have gone right to get me to this level. I still play around 16 to 18 minutes a night, so the ice time's still there. It's just a matter of getting back to supporting the puck a lot, going to the net and finishing my checks."
At some point, Anderson might move back into the top-six forwards to play with Panarin and rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who also likes to possess the puck. They were the Blue Jackets' best line for a while, but didn't produce enough to stay together.
If they get reunited at some point, Tortorella wants Anderson to play with the same mindset as when he plays with Dubinsky and Jenner.
"I think the [top] line went stale, and not just on one particular guy, but I certainly think Josh's game changed a bit," Tortorella said. "I just think when you have the puck as much as that line had [it], you're not chasing people down and banging people, and you forget about that part of your game."
II: BABY STEPS, BIG STEPS FOR PK
They only needed to kill one penalty against the Devils, but doing it was still a step in the right direction for the Blue Jackets.
Prior to that, Columbus had allowed at least one power-play goal in its previous seven games, going 7-for-16 (43.7 percent). The Jackets' penalty-killers and assistant coach Brad Shaw, who directs the PK, have worked feverishly to plug the holes.
"That's what I told 'Shawzy,' [after the game], 'We didn't get scored on tonight,'" Tortorella said. "All joking aside, they have worked very hard at it. I think [Jussi Jokinen] has added just a little bit of moxie and veteran leadership with it. [Sergei Bobrovsky] made a couple of good saves. We're going to get tested as we go through here."
Columbus was one of the NHL's best penalty-killing teams to start the season, especially on home ice. The Blue Jackets are now ranked 27th in the league (75.4 percent). Likewise, their power-play percentage was at the bottom of the league starting out, but is 16th in the NHL since Dec. 8, scoring at a respectable rate of 19.7 percent.
"We need to get both of those a little bit more consistent as we go through it," Tortorella said. "They're streaky. Special teams are always streaky. We've got to get a little bit of a streak on the good side."
III: SONNY OUTLOOK
Murray's update wasn't the only bright spot Monday.
Rookie forward Sonny Milano, who's missed 11 games with an oblique tear, practiced in full gear and joined the team for the road trip.
Milano has been out since Jan. 8, when he left a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs late in the second period following a big hit. Milano, who's on injured reserve, said he's "getting there," but needs more time to heal.