Matthew Schaefer continued the impressive start to his NHL career Tuesday night, scoring the winning goal and collecting two points to help the New York Islanders earn a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks in Elmont, N.Y.
Schaefer, an 18-year-old who was the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, has at least one point in each of his first six games, tying him with Marek Zidlicky (2003-04) for the longest career-opening streak by a defenseman in NHL history.
Bo Horvat, Casey Cizikas and Emil Heineman also scored for the Islanders, who have won three straight after losing their first three games in regulation. New York goalie Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves.
Collin Graf had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who remained the NHL’s lone winless team at 0-4-2. San Jose has endured a season-opening losing streak lasting at least five games in each of the past four years.
Macklin Celebrini — who preceded Schaefer as the top pick in the 2024 draft — and Adam Gaudette also scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov recorded 23 saves.
The teams combined for five goals in an 11-minute span during the first period. Graf opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 8:29 before Horvat collected a power-play goal 57 seconds later.
Cizikas put the Islanders ahead 1:04 later, when he picked off a pass by Sam Dickinson in the Sharks’ crease and beat Askarov from point-blank range.
Dickinson returned the favor with 5:44 remaining in the first. He gloved Cizikas’ chip pass to begin the sequence that ended with Gaudette going to one knee and beating Sorokin with a shot into the wide-open left corner of the net.
Heineman put the Islanders ahead for good with 32 seconds left in the period after jamming home a rebound at the left post for a power-play goal.
New York’s Anthony Duclair picked up the rebound of his own shot and fed Schaefer at the edge of the crease for the decisive goal 6:38 into the second.
Celebrini scored from the slot with 9:44 left in the third, but Sorokin preserved the one-goal lead by making two saves after Askarov was pulled with a little more than two minutes remaining.
–Field Level Media
