Murray shows his skills in return to Blue Jackets

There's nowhere Ryan Murray would rather be than on a hockey rink, but 22 minutes into his return to the Blue Jackets' lineup on Sunday night, he might have preferred to be at home with his puppy Jake.
The Australian shepherd is a new addition to Murray's life, having been adopted about a month ago, and spending time with the four-month-old puppy has been one of the ways the Columbus defenseman has coped with yet another injury setback in a career full of them.
"I got a dog like a month ago, so that's been keeping me busy," Murray said. "It's a handful but I think it helps, too, through a hard time. You go home to him and hang out with him.
"I was thinking about it and some guys on the team have dogs. It seemed like a good thing to do."

Speaking of a hard time, there was what Murray went through as he knocked the rust off in his first game in more than two months against Vancouver. The defenseman was on the ice for all three Canucks' goals in the first 21 minutes and change, and another wayward pass nearly led to another goal were it not for a tremendous save by Joonas Korpisalo on Tyler Toffoli in transition.
"It felt really good to get back out there," he said after his first game since Dec. 14. "A little bit of rust in the first period there. I was struggling a bit the first few plays. A couple of turnovers here and there, but they kept putting me back out there and good things happened, so I was thankful for that."
Did they ever. By the end of the Blue Jackets' 5-3 comeback win over the Canucks, Murray had showed exactly why his return was so anticipated.
For example, there was his perfect read as the lone man back on a 3-on-1 the Canucks had in the third period, as Murray went to the ice and used his stick to expertly break up the visitors' chance to extend their 3-1 lead.
Then there was Murray's excellent vision leading to the goal that brought the Blue Jackets back within one, a tally that sparked the four-goal comeback. After Zach Werenski entered the zone and drew the defense to him, he slipped a nifty feed to Murray along the left-wing wall before Murray picked out Riley Nash going to the back door. He put the feed right on Nash's stick, and the finish got the Blue Jackets back into the game.

"Z made a heck of a play on that play," Murray said. "He just skated through everyone, basically, so I just started going. … I saw (Nash) on the back side and it got through, and then he made a heck of a shot to put it in."
There was also the interplay between Murray and David Savard that led to the Blue Jackets' winning power-play goal by Emil Bemstrom. Murray and Savard played patty-cake with the puck at the top of the zone, exchanging passes until Savard saw Bemstrom curling toward the net along the right side, and Bemstrom took Savard's pass and fired past Louis Domingue to give the Blue Jackets the win.
Plays such as those are the ones that Murray brings to the table. He can play in all situations -- of his 20:28 on the night, Murray played both power-play and penalty kill time -- and is one of the better passers in the game along the blue line.
Despite continuing to battle injuries, Murray has shown why he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft over the past two seasons. A year ago, he was plus-20 while tallying a career-high 28 assists among his 29 points; with 0.50 points per game at even strength, he placed eighth among all NHL defenseman in that category among those to play at least 50 games.
This year, he had two goals and seven points in his first 24 games before suffering the injury against Ottawa and was rounding into form before the setback happened.
"The biggest thing with him is puck skills," head coach John Tortorella said. "There was some rust. You could see it -- rust in some of his reads, rust with the puck, but we all know what Murr is when he's on. He's one of the top players in this league as far as getting teams out of the zone and just seeing the ice. It's good to have him back in the lineup."
By the time the game was over, Murray was a big part of one of the most dramatic Blue Jackets wins in franchise history, just the fourth time the team came back to win in regulation despite facing a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes.
"Nothing can really replace it," he said of the feeling of being on the ice for something like that. "The win in itself, but when you're not playing, you're not out there and you're not experiencing it firsthand, it's something you obviously miss, so it was really good."
So Murray has done everything in his power to hope that this return is the one that sticks. His injury problems have been well-documented, as back injuries have interrupted each of his past two seasons, but he hopes work with a spine specialist as well as some tweaks to a training regimen will keep him healthy.
There's also Jake on hand to help him fill his days, which will hopefully now include a playoff push for the Blue Jackets.
"I think every time (you're out), you just learn," Murray said. "You sit back and watch, and I think you can learn some things about yourself and your game and the way you do things. Sometimes it's good to see a positive in a negative situation and just hit the reset button."