SALT LAKE CITY– #1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer scored 2:06 into overtime to beat the Utah Mammoth 3-2 in overtime and extend the game. New York Islanders“A four-fight winning streak.
With this goal, Schaefer became the youngest player in NHL history, at 18 years and 70 days, to score a goal in overtime, surpassing Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (18 years, 101 days).
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Schaefer took a big hit and sacrificed his body to block a shot in the second and third periods respectively, helping his team secure the victory.
“A big game. I mean, we fought back, we fought hard,” Schaefer said. “I don’t think our first game was the best, but we kept fighting, we kept improving. So I think we deserved this win.”
Despite a slow start to the game, the Islanders found themselves up 1-0 at 7:13 of the first period on another goal from Emil Heieneman, scoring his eighth goal of the season, two shy of his career high.
JJ Peterka and Dylan Guenther scored before the end of the first period, but Jonathan Drouin tied the score at 13:44 of the third after kicking a puck toward a call that Nate Schmidt put into his own net.
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This led to overtime where Schaefer did his job.
David Rittich was phenomenal, knocking back 27 of 29.
The Islanders have now tied the Penguins with 22 points, but Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker in regulation wins – nine to seven. They are just two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the Metro’s second seed.
The Islanders will travel to Colorado, where they will face Brock Nelson and the Avalanche on Sunday night.
