Ryan Graves is having a rough stretch. The New Jersey Devils defense was once a major strength. It is starting to show some holes. Those holes really reared its ugly head on Monday night against the New York Islanders. The game isn’t even over, but it’s clear Graves is having one of his worst games.
Graves was paired with John Marino. Through two periods, Graves was on the ice for two goals against, the only two goals the Islanders scored. He was directly responsible for both goals.
The first goal started because Graves fell when trying to stop a zone entry. It caused a two-on-one that John Marino did his best to stop, but a shot turned into a rebound with Vitek Vanecek way out of the net.
.@UBSARENA IS ROCKING pic.twitter.com/EPbejlj9db
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 27, 2023
Graves wasn’t even able to get back quick enough to at least challenge the rebound chance. It becomes a problem when Graves is staring at the play. To be fair, Dougie Hamilton has also been dealing with that issue. It’s something the Devils must address.
On the second goal, Kyle Palmieri made everyone look incredibly dumb. It happens sometimes. Palmieri was playing with some insane motivation on Monday. However, Graves needed to be more decisive when players are skating around the net.
🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 pic.twitter.com/8g4rpDbLQw
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 28, 2023
Since February 27th, Graves is third from the bottom on the team in Corsi For Percentage at 5v5. He’s been on the ice for 16 even-strength goals at that time. No other Devils player has been on the ice for more. There has been some bad luck. Graves has been on the ice for 70 high-danger chances in the past month but only two high-danger goals. That’s an insanely low percentage.
The Devils need Graves to be at his best going into the playoffs. He’s playing like something is bothering him. We mentioned his inability to get back on the play. He just seems like he may be lumbering at times. It seems like he could be dealing with something, which is entirely possible.
At this point, it would be best to give Graves a night off. The Devils went with seven defensemen on Monday to get both Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith in the lineup. They can do that by just sitting Graves. He needs a reset, and this is the best way to accomplish that.