Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, extended his point streak to six games (two goals, five assists) to become the second defenseman in NHL history with at least one point in each of his first six career games, joining Marek Zidlicky (six games from Oct. 9-23, 2003). It was also the first multipoint game of his NHL career.
“I love winning. I hate losing. It’s even more fun winning with this team and this group of guys,” Schaefer said when asked about extending his streak. “After the game, there’s a lot of happy guys in the room, and you feel good. But honestly, I mean, now we go back to work again, practice tomorrow, and then we have a game on Thursday, so go back to work, get our work boots on, and keep the streak going.”
Bo Horvat, Casey Cizikas and Emil Heineman scored for the Islanders (3-3-0), who have won three in a row. Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves.
“We found a way to win,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Our power play was solid. Our penalty killing was outstanding. I don’t think we gave a scoring chance on the penalty kill. Ilya [Sorokin] was, to me, the star of the game. I know Matthew [Schaefer] had a great game as well, one goal and one assist, probably his best game since he’s been here. But I thought Ilya made some really good saves, especially in the first period, where we were not at our best. I thought he kept us in and gave us a chance to win. He [allowed us] to come out of the first actually up 3-2.”
Collin Graf, Adam Gaudette, and Macklin Celebrini each scored for the Sharks (0-4-2). Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves. Michael Misa, who was selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, recorded his first career NHL point with an assist.
Graf gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead while short-handed at 8:29 of the first period. After Mathew Barzal turned the puck over at the San Jose blue line, Ty Dellandrea started a rush up the ice. Dellandrea then sent a pass to Graf in the slot, who beat Sorokin with a quick snap shot.