![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/27-new-york-islanders-scores-122580569.jpg\")
Anders Lee scores the game-winning goal during the Islanders\u2019 March 1 win. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\nThe Islanders\u2019 stirring string of comebacks from two-goal deficits incredibly continued Sunday night against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.<\/p>\n
And this one was mostly all about their budding superstar defenseman.<\/p>\n
Just as they\u2019d done in Montreal and Columbus earlier this week \u2014 albeit this time without the need for overtime \u2014 rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer and the surging Isles stormed back from an 0-2 hole again before posting their fifth straight victory, bridging the Olympic break with a rousing 5-4 decision over the Panthers at UBS Arena.<\/p>\n
Captain Anders Lee\u2019s forehand move with 30.9 seconds left in regulation improved the Isles to 35-21-5 overall ahead of a West Coast trip beginning Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old Schaefer\u2019s second goal of the night and 20th already of his first professional campaign with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation snapped a 3-3 tie, but Florida\u2019s Sam Reinhart evened matters again with just under two minutes to play.<\/p>\n
Anders Lee scores the game-winning goal during the Islanders\u2019 March 1 win. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
After the Isles forced a turnover in the Florida zone, Ondrej Palat found Schaefer, who whistled a wrister off a Panthers player and between the legs of veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to spark loud chants of the rookie\u2019s name multiple times.<\/p>\n
Schaefer already had extended his franchise record for goals by a rookie defenseman with No. 19 late in the first to spark the latest comeback bid. <\/p>\n
Sandis Vilmanis and Sam Bennett had staked the Panthers to a 2-0 advantage against Isles backup goalie David Rittich before the 15-minute mark of the opening session.<\/p>\n
Schaefer, who also broke Phil Housley\u2019s league mark Thursday in Montreal for goals by an 18-year-old blueliner, fired in a pinball goal with a slapper from the right circle that hit a Florida defenseman, then the crossbar and then the back of Bobrovsky before settling across the goal line for a 2-1 game less than two minutes left before intermission.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-islanders-defenseman-matthew-122569546.jpg\")
Matthew Schaefer celebrates his goal during the Islanders\u2019 March 1 win. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Before the game, two-time Cup-winning coach Paul Maurice added himself to the growing list of admirers of the hotshot rookie defenseman, who now stands just three behind Rangers legend Brian Leetch\u2019s 23 for the all-time NHL mark for rookie defenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just awesome,\u201d the Panthers\u2019 bench boss said of Schaefer before the game. \u201cWhen they\u2019re 18, and they can do that, like pure 18 and step in the league and be an impact player at that age, he\u2019s just going to get better and better and better. But he\u2019s not afraid to shoot the puck, not afraid to get up the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll put it across the line, but he\u2019s smart, like, not all offense regardless of the situation. He\u2019s got a really good balance, like, he\u2019s played in the league for a whole bunch of years. He knows when to go and when not to go. So the Islanders got a cornerstone for their franchise for probably 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isles coach Patrick Roy certainly agrees about Schaefer, who had surpassed Denis Potvin\u2019s team rookie mark for defensemen with his 18th Thursday in Montreal.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
That game also represented the first of consecutive comebacks from 0-2 holes on the road out of the Olympic stoppage, with 4-3 overtime wins over the Canadiens and the Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n
Carson Soucy buried the equalizer Sunday night with a 4-on-4 goal barely seven minutes into the middle period after Schaefer\u2019s interference penalty had negated an Isles power play. <\/p>\n
It was Soucy\u2019s second in nine games with the Isles since a late-January trade from the Rangers and his fifth overall this season.<\/p>\n
Bennett buried his second of the game with a backhander off the rush around the 12-minute mark of the second, but Bo Horvat made it a 3-3 game with a hard-angle shot from the left wall past Bobrovsky with just under three minutes to play before intermission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Islanders\u2019 stirring string of comebacks from two-goal deficits incredibly continued Sunday night against the two-time defending Stanley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35510,12401,16790,9,11,6821,10,539,319],"class_list":["post-149401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-anders-lee","tag-florida-panthers","tag-matthew-schaefer","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-new-york-news","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}