The Detroit Red Wings were stymied Wednesday night by a goalie making his NHL debut.
On Thursday night, the Red Wings get the task no one has been able to master yet: slowing down New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer.
The Islanders will look to continue surging when they face the Red Wings in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders were off on Wednesday after they earned their third straight victory on Tuesday, when Schaefer was credited with the game-winning goal as New York edged the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-3.
The Red Wings’ five-game winning streak ended Wednesday when they fell 4-2 to the host Buffalo Sabres.
Schaefer, a defenseman who was selected first in the June draft, posted his first career two-point game as he continued his red-hot start. The 18-year-old has a point in each of his first six NHL games, the longest such streak by a rookie since Jonathan Toews scored in his first 10 games in 2007-08.
Schaefer is one game shy of tying Alexandre Daigle (1993-94 Ottawa Senators) for the longest career-opening point streak by a player 18 years or younger in the expansion era.
He also leads Islanders skaters in ice time (22:07 per game) while manning the top power-play unit.
Schaefer’s youthful enthusiasm has provided a much-needed boost to the Islanders, who missed the playoffs by nine points last season and haven’t won a postseason round since the spring of 2021.
After being named the first star on Tuesday, Schaefer opened his on-ice interview with MSG Networks by grabbing the microphone and yelling, “I love this place! Let’s go Islanders, baby!”
Said Islanders captain Anders Lee, who is 17 years older than Schaefer: “He’s continuing to make a lot of people happy around here, and he’s been huge for our team getting us going, especially the last few games.”
Few teams in the NHL were hotter entering Wednesday than the Red Wings, who outscored the opposition 19-9 during their longest winning streak since a seven-game run from Jan. 23-Feb. 4.
However, Sabres goalie Colten Ellis stopped 27 of 29 shots in his first NHL appearance as the Red Wings never got untracked on Wednesday. Detroit was whistled for a season-high five penalties, including two in the first four minutes of the contest, and killed off the first three power plays before Buffalo’s Jack Quinn scored the winning goal on a man advantage 4:15 into the third period.
The Red Wings were outshot 24-16 in the first two periods, including 11-5 in the first. Detroit was outshot just twice in its first six games.
“The start’s not good enough,” said Red Wings left winger J.T. Compher, who gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead by scoring three minutes into the second period. “Any time you take two penalties in the first four minutes of the game, it’s going to give the other team a lot of confidence, and they get playing their game before we even get most of our guys on the ice. I think that kind of snowballed in the first.”
