While I didn’t see much offensive contribution from Murphy from inside the offensive blueline, I thought he defended very well both off the rush and being physical in front of his own net. The high-end lateral mobility helped him gap up and close out opponents off the rush, forcing them to the outside before delivering a body check to remove them from the puck. His feet allowed him to stick with attackers along the perimeter as well, making it difficult for them to gain space out of quick turns or changes of direction. When the play broke down in front of him on breakouts, he didn’t show me that he was able to adapt to the play and find a different way to get the puck out, even though the puck-moving itself was quite crisp and accurate throughout the game.