Douglas Murray Rumors & News

A few eyebrows were raised when Dan Bylsma inserted Deryk Engelland into the lineup for Game 1 against the Senators Tuesday. Engelland's previous playoff appearance saw him have a rough outing in Game 2 in the quarterfinal round against the Islanders in which he took two penalties, one of which led to a power-play goal for New York. Tuesday against Ottawa, Engelland was teamed with Douglas Murray. The duo provided some toughness for the Penguins, especially against the Senators' feisty fourth line of Matt Kassian, Chris Neil and Zack Smith. Yesterday, Engelland talked about his role in this se...

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun (92), of the Czech Republic, and defenseman Douglas Murray (3), of Sweden, defend New York Islanders left wing Matt Moulson (26) in the second period of Game 6 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3 in overtime, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Douglas Murray (3) celebrates with teammates Brandon Sutter, left, Pascal Dupuis, center, and Sidney Crosby after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders, Thursday, May 9, 2013, in Pittsburgh. The Penguins won 4-0. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Douglas Murray is slow. There's no kind way to put it. At 6'3", 245, Murray's stature is closer to that of an apartment building than the prototypical NHL defenseman. The latter is far more mobile than the former. Then again, skating laps around an apartment building may be preferable to trying to skate around Murray. Even for the fleet-footed New York Islanders. Excepting Pittsburgh's shock-and-awe win in Game 1, the Islanders took the attack to the Penguins in Games 2 and 3, using their lightning-quick forecheck to disrupt Pittsburgh's breakouts and spread out their preferred defensi...

A shot by New York Islanders' Kyle Okposo, not shown, slides behind Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Friday, May 3, 2013, in Pittsburgh. At bottom are Islanders' Matt Moulson (26) and Penguins' Douglas Murray. The Islanders won 4-3 to even the series at 1-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Buffalo Sabres' Steve Ott (9) knocks a rebound out of the air for a goal past Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) and Penguins' Douglas Murray (3) in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Sabres won 4-2. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Ottawa Senators' Jakob Silfverberg (33) tries to shoot the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun (92) and Douglas Murray (3) defend during the second period of their NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand)

As injuries have set in the past three weeks, particularly on the blue line, the Penguins have been forced to mix and match all but one of their defensive pairings. Douglas Murray (above) and Matt Niskanen. Murray, acquired in a trade with the Sharks last month, has spent most of the first eight games with the Penguins on the left side of the team's third defensive pairing during five-on-five play with Niskanen who has manned the right side. Since they have been teamed up, they have allowed only one even-strength goal as a defensive pairing. When asked why the pairing hasn't been broken up de...