Murphy played the better part of 18 years between 1952 and 1970, most notably on a Bruins line with
Phil Esposito and
Ken Hodge, which broke the league record for scoring by a forward line in the
1968–69 NHL season with 263 points. The record was subsequently broken two years later by Esposito, Hodge and
Wayne Cashman. 1968–69 represented a comeback year for Murphy, who had missed most of the preceding two seasons following multiple operations on a chronically bad shoulder, and he initially retired after that season. His health improving over the summer, Murphy rejoined the Bruins for the beginning of the
1970 season, but recurrences of his chronic injuries reduced him to spot duty over 20 games, and he retired for good in March 1970. Murphy's career was nearly cut short late in the second period of a
New York Rangers' 3–1 victory over the
Montreal Canadiens at
Madison Square Garden on December 20, 1953. During a stick-swinging incident with Montreal's
Boom Boom Geoffrion, the then-20-year-old
left wing sustained a broken jaw and
concussion after Geoffrion took a two-handed swing and made contact with the left side of Murphy's face. Murphy was suspended for five games for his role in the incident, but the injuries cost him the remainder of the season. Geoffrion was banned from all matches between the two teams for the rest of the campaign. The incident was recorded on black-and-white film used by Rangers coach
Frank Boucher. The footage was discovered in 2011 when
MSG Media moved its film and videotape archive out of Madison Square Garden while the building was undergoing renovations. ==Post-playing career==