Islanders vs. Wild: Matthew Schaefer Scores Twice, Including the Overtime Winner 33 Seconds In

With 3:53 left in regulation, Matthew Schaefer tried to clear the puck, Matt Boldy picked it off and the game was tied. Most 19-year-olds would spend the short break before overtime staring at the floor. Schaefer spent it plotting revenge, and he needed exactly 33 seconds to get it.

Schaefer buried a wrist shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 early in overtime, and the New York Islanders beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The 19-year-old defenseman finished with two goals and an assist, played a monstrous 30:01, and handed Minnesota its first home game this season without a win.

Back and Forth in St. Paul

The Wild needed 27 seconds to get on the board. Quinn Hughes flipped a backhand feed up the middle to Kirill Kaprizov, Kaprizov bought himself some room, and Joel Eriksson Ek finished the setup with a wrister past Ilya Sorokin. Then the Islanders lost a defenseman. Ryan Pulock lasted two shifts before leaving, and the team ruled him out with an upper-body injury when the second period began, so New York played the rest of the night with five defensemen.

Schaefer tied it at 16:36 of the first. Brayden Schenn's forecheck started it, Victor Eklund and Emil Heineman worked it toward the net, and when Heineman's shot caromed off Jesper Wallstedt's chest protector, Schaefer was waiting to bat the rebound in. Early in the second, the Islanders took their first lead on the power play, going Schaefer to Simon Holmstrom to Bo Horvat, who was parked on the doorstep and redirected it in at 1:41 for a 2-1 lead. It was Horvat's team-leading seventh goal.

Minnesota answered late in the period when Hughes beat Sorokin on the backhand at 17:21, set up by Ryan Hartman and Jonas Brodin. Adam Pelech gave the Islanders the lead again at 7:14 of the third, taking the puck at the blue line and firing it through for his first goal of the season. That looked like it might hold until Boldy jumped on Schaefer's clearing attempt, settled the puck and snapped it past Sorokin to make it 3-3.

Then overtime started, and Schaefer took over. Jean-Gabriel Pageau sent him away, he attacked down the right side with Holmstrom driving the far post, and instead of making the pretty pass he ripped it past Wallstedt. Game over at 0:33.

Schaefer Is Rewriting the Teenage Record Book

The Islanders' notes on Schaefer read like a Hall of Fame plaque in progress. According to the team, the overtime winner was his third career overtime goal, the most ever by a teenage defenseman in NHL history, breaking a tie with Cam Fowler. It was also his fifth career multigoal game, which matched Phil Housley for the most by a teenage defenseman. His first goal moved him past Scott Stevens into sixth place in points by a teenage defenseman. Housley, Stevens, Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque all show up in his comparables. That is not a normal sentence to write about someone who cannot legally rent a car in most places.

He has a six-game point streak now, with four goals and four assists in that stretch. Per the team, the only teenagers in Islanders history with longer point streaks are Pat LaFontaine, Bryan Trottier, Tim Connolly and Brent Sutter. Not bad company. He also played 30:01 on a night the Islanders were down to five defensemen. His own take was refreshingly simple. "I was happy to get one there," Schaefer said.

Horvat added a goal in 20:57 and won 11 of 17 faceoffs. Pelech logged 23:49 with three blocked shots. Sorokin stopped 22 of 25.

On the Minnesota side, Hughes was spectacular in a losing effort, scoring a goal and setting up another in a staggering 33:41. Kaprizov's assist on the opener was his 10th of the season to go with 14 goals, and Boldy's equalizer was his sixth. Wallstedt made 22 saves on 26 shots.

A Kid Who Wanted It Back

The Boldy goal should have been the moment that broke the Islanders. They had played most of the night short a defenseman, they had blown a third-period lead, and the guy who made the mistake was a teenager. Instead, the mistake lit a fire.

"You could tell that he wanted to get it back for us even before overtime started," Islanders coach Pete DeBoer said.

The choice on the 2-on-1 says everything. Holmstrom was driving the far post, and Schaefer trusted his shot anyway. Teenagers are not supposed to be that sure of themselves in overtime. This one is.

Numbers From a Tight One

• 30:01: Schaefer's ice time, with the Islanders down to five defensemen.
• 33:41: Hughes' ice time for Minnesota, a ridiculous workload.
• 33-25: Faceoffs, the Islanders' way.
• 23-16: Giveaways, with Minnesota coughing up more of them.
• 1 for 2: The Islanders' power play, while Minnesota went 0 for 3.

The Standings Fallout

The Islanders are 7-4-2 with 16 points and have won two straight, both beyond regulation. They finished a three-game swing through the Central Division with four of a possible six points and return home Saturday afternoon to open a three-game homestand against Edmonton. DeBoer called it "maybe our most complete game of the year," and with five defensemen for most of it, that is high praise.

Minnesota, which the AP lists as the Central Division leader, falls to 9-3-3 with 21 points. This was their first home game since Oct. 18, following a five-game road swing, and their three-game winning streak is over. They still have not lost in regulation at home, going 4-0-1. They visit Washington on Sunday.

Plot Armor

Every good coming-of-age movie has the scene where the kid messes up, sulks for a minute and then saves the day in the final act. Schaefer packed that entire arc into a little over four minutes of game time. DeBoer put a bow on it: "Gutsy effort by our group."

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes and notes from the New York Islanders on nhl.com; additional details as reported by the Associated Press.