Devils' Ryan Graves: Back to being a plus player

Graves scored a goal during a 7-1 victory over the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

After watching Nico Hischier score from the left face-off circle Sunday, Graves connected on a nearly identical first-period slap shot 33 seconds later. It was the first goal of the season for the 27-year-old defenseman. In 19:47 of ice time, Graves added two shots and a plus-3 rating. Graves, who was a plus-40 with the Avalanche in 2019-20, collected a career-best 28 points with the Devils last season but finished with a minus-9 rating. In nine games this season, he's a plus-7.