Brayden Schenn’s night against the Nashville Predators came with a personal marker that stands out even in a game loaded with milestones for the New York Islanders.
Schenn scored New York’s second goal in the first period, pushing the Islanders ahead 2-0 off an assist from Ondrej Palat. It was the 300th goal of his career, a number that puts him in a select group: he became the 249th player in NHL history to hit that mark and the eighth player from the 2009 NHL Draft class to do it.
Afterward, Schenn made it clear he sees the achievement as something built with help from everyone around him.
“Stats are great and all that type of stuff, but I take it as a accomplishment as to how many good teammates and coaches and opportunities that I've have along the way in order to put put me in that position,” Schenn said, via Tyler Brosious of NHL.com. “I've had a lot of great linemates over the course of my career, and like I said, I just got rewarded by my teammates. It's nice, but at the end of the day, it goes to the other guys that you play with and the opportunity you get.”
The goal was Schenn’s 10th since joining the Islanders. Before that, he piled up 181 goals with the St. Louis Blues and 109 with the Philadelphia Flyers to reach 300 and keep climbing.
His role has shifted along the way this season. Schenn started out on the wing, but when Calum Ritchie, New York’s No. 2 center, went down with a lower-body injury, Schenn moved into the middle from the left side. Victor Eklund stayed on the right wing, while Emil Heineman slid into the left-wing spot.
The change has helped spark Schenn’s recent run. He’s on a four-game point streak, with two goals and two assists over that stretch. That’s his longest streak since a five-game run from Feb. 23 through March 2, 2025, and he’ll try to match it tonight against the Minnesota Wild.
The Islanders’ win over Nashville carried plenty of other lasting memories too. Matthew Schaefer made franchise and NHL history by becoming the first player to stay on the ice for an entire five-minute overtime, breaking Casey Cizikas’ previous team record for the longest shift in Islanders history. In goal, Semyon Varlamov picked up his first win in nearly two years, a fitting milestone in what has been a comeback story after partial replacement surgery on both knees.
In Other News...
Matthew Schaefer Is Putting An Untouchable NHL Teen Mark In Play
Matthew Schaefer has already done enough in a brief NHL career to make the Islanders pay attention every night, and the 19-year-old keeps stacking production at a pace that is hard to ignore. He has averaged nearly a point per game so far, and with the way he is being leaned on in New York, his scoring touch is no longer just a promising start. It is becoming part of the conversation around how far he can push this season.
The bigger picture is even more striking because Schaefer is still a teenager, which keeps the door open on a mark long considered out of reach. He is still tracking toward a huge year offensively, and the ice time he is getting suggests the Islanders are willing to let him learn on the fly while he drives play. If that usage continues, the chase could get very real before his next birthday. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Patience With Maxim Shabanov Looks Worse By The Week
Maxim Shabanov arrived on Long Island in 2025 with the kind of rsum that tends to buy a player a little patience. After a strong KHL season, the Russian winger was brought in to see whether his skill could translate to the NHL, but the Islanders never got much return on that bet during his rookie year. For a team that has spent years looking for offense wherever it can find it, the decision to move on from a player with upside already looked like a gamble.
Mathieu Darche made the call not to extend a qualifying offer, and Shabanov left to sign a one-year deal with the Minnesota Wild. Early in his new stop, he has looked far more comfortable than he ever did in the Islanders organization, and that is only sharpening the frustration around the original decision. With Shabanov producing right away elsewhere, the Islanders are left to wonder whether they were too quick to let a gifted scorer get away before he ever had a real chance to settle in. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Shake Up Lineup Again As Road Trip Pressure Builds
The Islanders are trying to steady things as they close out a three-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild, and head coach Peter DeBoer has turned to another lineup tweak in search of a cleaner look. Kyle MacLean is back after sitting out one game, giving the club a bit more balance up front as it tries to manage the wear and tear of the trip.
Matthew Kessel is the healthy scratch, and the move lets New York return to a 12-forward, 6-defensemen alignment with Ilya Sorokin set to start in goal. For a team still looking for the right mix on the road, the changes are less about a single player than about finding a structure that can hold up under pressure in a game the Islanders could use to settle in. [Read more 🡒]