Matthew Schaefer’s NHL career consists of six games.
That small sample size, though, is already large enough for the former Erie Otters defenseman to show why the New York Islanders selected him with the No. 1 overall pick for this year’s NHL draft.
The Islanders recorded a 4-3 victory against the visiting San Jose Sharks on Oct. 21. Schaefer assisted on their third goal and scored their fourth, which ended up as the game winner.
Schaefer has at least one point in each game of for the 3-3 Islanders. That means he’s tied the NHL record for the longest points streak at the start of a career by a defenseman.
Marek Zidlicky, a native of the former Czechoslovakia, broke into the league with that same streak as a blue-liner for the 2003-04 Nashville Predators.
In an Oct. 20 article, The New York Post reported that the league’s expansion-era record for the longest points streak at start of a career by any position player age 18 or younger is seven. Alex Daigle accomplished that with the 1993-94 Ottawa Senators.
Schaefer can match Daigle’s record on Oct. 23 when the Islanders host the Detroit Red Wings at UBS Arena.