Matthew Schaefer gets first NHL point, but Islanders fall to Penguins
Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders skates in the first period of his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on October 9, 2025. Credit: Getty Images/Justin Berl
PITTSBURGH — Matthew Schaefer quickly showed he could impact an NHL game as the No. 1 overall pick’s speed and poise helped the Islanders play a noticeably faster game than they could last season.
The 18-year-old defenseman needed only a little more than half of a period on Thursday night to record his first point, and coach Patrick Roy trusted him enough to put him on the ice for a lengthy shift in the final minute of regulation with the Islanders skating six-on-five as they sought the equalizing goal.
“It’s amazing,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “We got a little taste of it during training camp and all the hype videos we saw. But he’s so composed with the puck and he knows when to jump, when not to jump. His hockey IQ is amazing. He played great tonight for us.”
“He was throwing pucks at the net,” Roy said. “He seems very, very comfortable and very confident out there.”
But the Islanders, still getting hurt on the penalty kill, lost their season opener, 4-3, to the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins went 2-for-5 on the power play and Justin Brazeau, who scored twice in a 3-0 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, notched what proved to be the winner on a backhander at the crease at 14:21 of the third period.
“I thought we played a good game, well enough to win,” Roy said. “We’re not here for moral victories. We want to win games. We’re certainly not satisfied. But we did a lot of good things. I like the pace.”
Schaefer, who was given the pregame honor of leading the stretch at the end of the morning skate along with fellow rookie Max Shabanov, six years his elder and with three seasons of KHL experience, said he was not nervous before his debut. Both Schaefer and Shabanov took their pregame rookie laps in style, opting not to wear a helmet and risking a potential fine for doing so.
Schaefer’s father, Todd, watched nervously from his suite with about 30 family and friends as his son stayed calm on the ice.
“Hate losing,” Schaefer said, later adding, “It was a good first game. Good way to get it out of your system.”
At 18 years, 34 days, Schaefer, who was born in Hamilton, Ontario, became the youngest defenseman selected first overall in the NHL Draft to make his NHL debut. He also became the second-youngest Islander to make his debut. Nino Niederreiter was 18 years, 31 days when he played his first game in 2010.
At 12:02 of the first period, Schaefer became the youngest player in NHL history to record a point in his NHL debut. He sent a seeing-eye pass from the left wall to free-agent signee Jonathan Drouin in the slot, and Drouin beat Tristan Jarry (34 saves) up high to tie it at 1-1.
Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 4:04 of the second period, and Jarry went into a split to deny Pageau at the crease at 4:48 to prevent the Islanders from taking a two-goal lead.
Instead, Schaefer was on the ice as defenseman Harrison Brunicke split him and defense partner Scott Mayfield with a shot to tie it at 2-2 at 5:41 of the period.
Improving their special teams is a must for the Islanders after both the power play and the penalty kill finished 31st in the 32-team NHL last season.
The Penguins opened the scoring on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal at 3:23 of the first period as Schaefer spent the bulk of his first NHL shift defending a delayed penalty for high sticking on defenseman Alexander Romanov.
Malkin also set up Sidney Crosby at the crease for a four-on-three power-play goal to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead at 8:58 of the second period.
Shabanov scored from the right circle with 39.1 seconds left in the second to tie it at 3-3.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 shots for the Islanders, who will face the Capitals on Saturday night at UBS Arena in their home opener.
Notes & quotes: Kelly Cheeseman has joined the Islanders as president of business operations/alternate governor after nearly 25 years with the Kings, including the last 13 as chief operating officer . . . Anders Lee became the longest-tenured captain in Islanders history as he started his eighth season wearing the “C,” breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Denis Potvin (1979-87).
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.
