Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman sees confidence surge after one specific reason
Photo credit: Edit from PensBurgh
Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves revealed that his stint in the AHL and playing on the power-play there really helped boost his NHL confidence.
During the Pittsburgh Penguins' 5-3 home win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, forward Anthony Mantha scored the team's third goal of the contest by cleaning up a rebound near the crease.
But that would not have been possible were it not for Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves.
What Ryan Graves did that recently stood out
When a puck fluttered into the air and threatened to escape the offensive zone, Graves leaned his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame down to keep the puck on the right side of the blue line.
That allowed Penguins forward Blake Lizotte to chop the puck toward the near circle, and Penguins forward Tommy Novak then took possession.
After Novak flipped a seemingly innocent backhanded dribbler on net, goaltender Charlie Lindgren didn't cleanly absorb the puck, which Mantha cleaned up with a backhander that found twine.
Novak and Lizotte logged the assists on the sequence, whereas Graves merely got a plus, but it's plays like that from Graves that we never truly saw before. A month prior, no one knew if he would ever make a return to the NHL.
On Oct. 4, the Penguins opted to put Graves on waivers. After no one claimed him, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL the next day.
Graves took his assignment and made the most of it. Primarily stationed on the left side of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's second pairing, he posted seven points in 10 games.
Why Ryan Graves has a sudden surge of confidence
Some of that confidence came from working on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's top power-play unit.
"To be able to create offense out of situations like that and just to feel the puck in the offensive zone, there's something to that."
- Ryan Graves
- Ryan Graves
As a result, when Graves was recalled to the NHL roster on Nov. 4, he returned with better assurances of his abilities, particularly when he has the puck.
Graves has played in three NHL games since being recalled and has scored one goal. Largely deployed on the third pairing with right-hander Connor Clifton, Graves has averaged 15 minutes, 26 seconds of ice time per game.
Going to the AHL was hardly the best set of circumstances, especially for a player signed to one of the biggest contracts, at least by term, on the payroll, but Graves made the most out of it all.
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