Matthew Schaefer scores first NHL goal, but Islanders fall to Capitals in home opener
New York Islanders' Matthew Schaefer celebrates after scoring his first NHL goal during the third period against the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: AP
It started as a dud performance for two periods that turned into a welcome party for No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer but still ended as a disappointing defeat for the winless Islanders.
They spotted the Capitals four goals and lost, 4-2, on Saturday night in their home opener at UBS Arena. But Schaefer was electric in a way few 18-year-olds are capable of being in the NHL, scoring his first career goal, leading the Islanders with 26:04 of ice time, taking a game-high eight shots and having another five attempts blocked as he was elevated to the top power-play unit.
“He’s so good, he was our best player out there tonight,” coach Patrick Roy said. “He forced me to play him.”
Schaefer halved the deficit at 4:28 of the third period by diving toward a wild scramble at the crease and pushing the puck underneath the pile. He celebrated with a joyous leap into the glass and a lap around the ice as the sellout crowd of 17,255 chanted his name.
"It's awesome,” Schaefer said. “It feels like home for sure.”
The goal survived a long review to see if Bo Horvat had played the puck with his hand in the crease.
Schaefer’s speed, playmaking and infectious nature undeniably are among the Islanders’ best attributes two games into the season.
“It’s unbelievable,” Kyle Palmieri said. “He’s an energetic 18-year-old kid. As a group, he makes us a better hockey team, and that’s all you can ask for from a teammate and a player. But to ask too much of an 18-year-old, we don’t want to do that. But he’s been a sparkplug for us and it’s been a pleasure watching him.”
But until the third period, gone was the speed, structure and straight-line attack shown in the Islanders’ well-played 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Thursday in their season opener. The Islanders instead substituted turnovers and ignored opportunities to shoot as they looked for the extra pass.
The Islanders are 1-3-1 in home openers at UBS Arena. Saturday’s match marked the start of a three-game homestand and a stretch of five of six at UBS Arena, where establishing a home-ice advantage is a must after going 19-17-5 in their building last season and missing the playoffs by nine points.
“Kudos to [the Capitals]. They came out flying and they had a really good forecheck,” Horvat said. “As soon as we started breaking pucks out, we were fine. It was just we were getting hemmed in our end. We had to be a lot better tonight in front of our home crowd.”
“Flat start,” said Palmieri, who played in his 200th straight game dating to Jan. 23, 2023. “We were disconnected, not moving our feet. Not playing like we did the other night. It’s not good in your home opener. But it’s game two. We’ve got a long way to go as a team and in the season.”
The Capitals led 2-0 after outshooting the Islanders 9-3 in the first period.
The Islanders were hemmed in their zone off the opening faceoff and defenseman Martin Fehervary deposited the puck after Alex Ovechkin’s initial shot for a 1-0 lead at 1:50.
Simon Holmstrom’s turnover along the wall as the Islanders failed to clear the zone led to Aliaksei Protas’ goal from the slot at 13:52.
“It’s not that we didn’t have shots in the first,” Roy said. “It was we missed the net in the first.”
The Islanders had eight attempts blocked in the first period and five additional attempts miss the net.
Ryan Leonard made it 3-0 at 9:50 of the second period as Palmieri was racing out of the penalty box after a phantom tripping call.
Protas notched a second goal for a 4-0 lead at 15:30 of the second period off Tony DeAngelo’s blue-line turnover. The defenseman did not aggressively backcheck as the puck rolled into the Islanders’ zone and Ilya Sorokin (25 saves) stayed rooted to his crease rather than coming out to clear the puck, as it appeared he had a chance to do.
Anthony Duclair’s power-play goal from the right circle at 18:51 of the second period, eight seconds after defenseman Jakob Chychrun high-sticked Schaefer, made it 4-1.
The Capitals’ Logan Thompson stopped 34 shots.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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