It didn’t take New York Islanders’ rookie defenceman, Matthew Schaefer, long to drop his name into the NHL’s history book. In fact, it was just over 17 minutes that Schaefer played in his first career NHL game and it came with an all-time record as well for the 18-year-old.
Just over 12 minutes into the game between the Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Schaefer got the puck into the Penguins zone. He made a cross-ice pass to find Jonathan Drouin in the high slot for the one-timer. Drouin got the puck past Tristan Jarry to tie the game and record his first goal with the Islanders.
As for Schaefer, he recorded his first NHL point with the primary assist and, in doing so, became the youngest defenceman in NHL history to record a point in his NHL debut, surpassing Scott Niedermayer who was 18 years and 46 days old when he tallied his first NHL point in his debut. Schaefer’s mark now stands at 18 years and 34 days old.
“I found (Drouin) there, and it was an easy pass to him and of course he puts it in the back of the net,” said Schaefer about his point.
The point did come in a losing effort for the Islanders who choked up an early 2-1 lead to the Penguins and went on to lose 4-3, but all eyes were on Schaefer and how he would debut as the first overall pick.
“I thought he was really good,” said head coach Patrick Roy. “He was good at the end. Throwing pucks at the net. I thought that he seemed very comfortable, very confident out there. So I’m very pleased with him.”
While the Islanders will keep a close eye on what they can get from Schaefer this season, the 18-year-old will continue to look for ways to impress both on and off the ice. For now, he hold a record in the NHL, even after playing just 17 minutes in the league.
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