Regina’s Ryan Murray and the Columbus Blue Jackets made history last week when Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning became the fourth longest game in NHL history.
The game stretched into 5 overtime periods, totaling over 150 minutes.
On the Sports Cage with Derek Taylor on Friday, Murray said that despite playing for that long, the players felt pretty good.
“Everyone was fine,” said Murray. “Maybe after the second overtime, guys started getting tired, but then you hit that third and fourth, and guys start getting that second and third wind.”
Unfortunately for Murray’s Blue Jackets their effort resulted in a loss, but he said the game was something he’ll never forget
“It was a cool experience, too bad we couldn’t come out with the win,” said Murray. “Even that winning goal was just like a throw at the net thing, and I think we kind of knew that was going to be the winner. Seemed like every skill play that was going on, there was some crazy turnovers where guys are just putting right on the other team’s tape, and guys were so tired. It was interesting game to be a part of.”
When asked what it’s like to play hockey in August, Murray said that he would be training at this time of year anyway, so it’s not that different.
“It’s actually not too bad, even with all the traveling you’d usually do, there’s not much travel right, you just have the short bus to the rink and back, so it’s actually pretty chill,” said Murray. “There’s not suits on game days or anything like that, you can just wear shorts and a t-shirt to the rink, which has been pretty nice.”
Murray scored his first playoff goal in Game 2 of the series, helping his team tie the series 1-1. Game 3 is set for Saturday night
