However, Graves' skilled performance in the 1991–92 campaign was marred when in the Patrick Division finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he viciously chopped Mario Lemieux's left hand with his stick. Lemieux suffered a fractured bone in his hand and would miss the Penguins' next five games. Lemieux complained afterward that Graves and Rangers head coach Roger Neilson had "engineered a hit" on him, and Graves was ultimately suspended for what turned out to be the Rangers' final three playoff games before being eliminated by the Penguins.