Connor Murphy Leads Coyotes Into Columbus Game
Connor Murphy and the Arizona Coyotes take on Columbus
Connor Murphy, a native of Dublin, Ohio, is heading home — for the first time — with his NHL franchise in tow.
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The 21-year-old is deep in the midst of his first full NHL season — and although he’s still got a lot to learn, he’s been stepping up for the franchise that drafted him in the first round just three seasons ago.
Murphy isn’t the only player returning to Ohio, though; Mike Smith is known for a bit of an impressive history against Columbus (and is therefore getting the nod this evening), while Oliver Ekman-Larsson is fresh off his first NHL All Star appearance in Columbus less than two weeks ago.
The Coyotes spent a brief period of time ahead of the Blue Jackets in the league standings back when the Metropolitan Division team had half their starting roster on injured reserve — but since players have gradually returned to the Columbus lineup, the team has slowly worked their way back into at least a competitive position in the league.
The two teams sit three points apart at the bottom of the NHL standings, but they’ve each managed to remain more competitive (for the most part) than the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers — so with the McEichel sweepstakes a somewhat distant dream, these two franchises need to play a solid, competitive game.
Worst case, they take the game to overtime — and if they each earn points, they could try to edge New Jersey out of the way.
Details for Tuesday night’s game:
DATE: Tuesday, February 3rd
TIME: 7:00 PM (EST)
LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio
ARENA: Nationwide Arena
TV INFO: Fox Sports AZ, Fox Sports OH
Projected Line Combinations:
Forwards:
Tobias Rieder – Antoine Vermette – Shane Doan
Lauri Korpikoski – Sam Gagner – Martin Erat
Brandon McMillan – Kyle Chipchura – David Moss
Lucas Lessio – Brendan Shinnimin – B.J. Crombeen
Injured List: Martin Hanzal, Joe Vitale, Mikkel Boedker (still recovering from spleen removal surgery)
Defense:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle – Michael Stone
Connor Murphy – Andrew Campbell
Healthy Scratch: Chris Summers
Goal: Mike Smith
GIF of the Week:
Good luck, Coyotes.
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