It didn’t take New York Islanders’ rookie defenceman, Matthew Schaefer, lengthy to drop his identify into the NHL’s historical past guide. The truth is, it was simply over 17 minutes that Schaefer performed in his first profession NHL recreation and it got here with an all-time document as nicely for the 18-year-old.
Simply over 12 minutes into the sport between the Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Schaefer acquired the puck into the Penguins zone. He made a cross-ice move to seek out Jonathan Drouin within the excessive slot for the one-timer. Drouin acquired the puck previous Tristan Jarry to tie the sport and document his first purpose with the Islanders.
As for Schaefer, he recorded his first NHL level with the first help and, in doing so, turned the youngest defenceman in NHL historical past to document some extent in his NHL debut, surpassing Scott Niedermayer who was 18 years and 46 days previous when he tallied his first NHL level in his debut. Schaefer’s mark now stands at 18 years and 34 days previous.
“I discovered (Drouin) there, and it was a simple move to him and naturally he places it at the back of the web,” said Schaefer about his point.
The purpose did are available a dropping effort for the Islanders who choked up an early 2-1 result in the Penguins and went on to lose 4-3, however all eyes have been on Schaefer and the way he would debut as the primary total decide.
“I believed he was actually good,” mentioned head coach Patrick Roy. “He was good on the finish. Throwing pucks on the internet. I believed that he appeared very comfy, very assured on the market. So I’m very happy with him.”
Whereas the Islanders will hold a detailed eye on what they’ll get from Schaefer this season, the 18-year-old will proceed to search for methods to impress each on and off the ice. For now, he maintain a document within the NHL, even after taking part in simply 17 minutes within the league.
