- Matthew Schaefer scored 33 seconds into overtime to lift the Islanders past the Wild 4-3
- He is the first teenage defenseman in NHL history with three career overtime goals
- Read below for the full night, including Pete DeBoer’s reaction
Matthew Schaefer just keeps rewriting the record book.
The 19-year-old Islanders defenseman scored his second goal of the night 33 seconds into overtime Thursday, giving New York a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena. It was his third career overtime goal, which makes him the first teenage defenseman in NHL history to reach that number. He broke a tie with Cam Fowler, who had two.
Watch the winner:
Schaefer skated into the zone on a 2-on-1 with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom and put a wrist shot from the right circle in off the left post. He explained afterward how it came together.
“Pager made a nice play up, and Homer was going backside,” Schaefer said. “So, I just took whatever’s given.”
He also tied the game 1-1 late in the first period and added a secondary assist on Bo Horvat’s power-play goal. That gave him five career multi-goal games, tying Phil Housley for the most by a teenage defenseman. He played over 30 minutes, and no other player this century has done that while scoring twice and winning it in overtime.
Schaefer extended his point streak to six games, matching his career high from last season. Only four teenagers in franchise history have a longer one: Pat LaFontaine, Bryan Trottier, Tim Connolly and Brent Sutter. He has 14 points in 13 games.
The night wasn’t perfect. Schaefer’s turnover in the third period led to Matt Boldy’s tying goal for Minnesota with under four minutes left. Head coach Pete DeBoer said Schaefer wanted to make up for it.
“You could tell that he wanted to get it back for us,” DeBoer said. “Even before overtime started. That edge, competitiveness and edge he has to be a difference-maker is really rare.”
Wild forward Boldy had a plain assessment of the young defenseman. “He plays the game like he’s been playing for 10, 15 years,” Boldy said.
Schaefer has been on a run lately. We covered him playing all five minutes of overtime against the Predators earlier this week, and he passed Bobby Orr on the goals list just days before that.
New York is 7-4-2 and gets Connor McDavid and the Oilers at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon. Defenseman Ryan Pulock left Thursday’s game in the first period with an upper-body injury, and DeBoer had no update.
