Teddy Purcell has one goal and two assists in his six games since being recalled from Manchester, and all three points have been in his last three games. Purcell is now skating on the top line, with Alexander Frolov and Anze Kopitar, and today, Terry Murray talked about Purcell’s development…

Question: What have you seen from Teddy Purcell? He has played a handful of games now and it looks like he’s in a top-six (forward) situation…

MURRAY: “And that’s where he needs to play, in order to give him a fair look and see how things come together for him. The M.O. that he comes with, as we all know, is that he’s an offensive player, a goal scorer, a creative player. He’s out on the power play and we’re looking for him to be able to use his skills to the best of his ability to help us win games. It’s OK. He’s in there, he’s working hard, he’s trying to do all the right stuff on all sides of the puck. You’re seeing him in there quickly on the forecheck and working hard along the boards, trying to get the puck back whenever it is loose. He’s making a good impression. There has been considerable improvement, I believe, from the time that I first saw him, going back to training camp. He’s a young player who is making strides.”

Question: It seems like this is an opportunity, with (Patrick O’Sullivan) gone. He was a top-six, and now Oscar is back too…

MURRAY: “You’re right. (Purcell’s) other looks were, `OK, if he grabs this ball in these two games, then great,’ but I always seemed to slide him to another position. He ended up being a fourth-line center iceman this year. So this clearly is a critical time of the year, where the push is on still, and it’s a great opportunity for him to really step up and show us that he’s ready to make the jump and be a player in the NHL. He will stay in our top six. I’m a big believer that that’s where a player who has that kind of ability need to play in order to show us what he can do.”