The New York Islanders left Minnesota with two points, but they had to work for them. In a 4-3 overtime win over the Wild, Matthew Schaefer was the headline again, finishing with two goals and an assist while tying and then moving past Bobby Orr’s teenage scoring record on the leaderboard.
Bo Horvat added a power-play goal, Adam Pelech scored his first of the season, and the Islanders eventually found a way to close out a road trip that never looked entirely comfortable.
Minnesota needed less than 30 seconds to strike first, as Joel Eriksson-Ek beat Ilya Sorokin on a shot up the middle with no traffic in front. The Islanders did respond with some pressure of their own, and after Kyle Palmieri was sent off for hooking Danila Yurov, they killed the penalty. Ryan Pulock then left the game with an upper body injury and did not return.
The tying goal came off a rebound chance. Emil Heineman got a shot through that Jesper Wallstedt stopped, but Schaefer was right there to finish the rebound and make it 1-1.
New York grabbed its first lead early in the second period when Olli Maatta was called for tripping Palmieri. On the power play, Simon Holmstrom fed Horvat for a tip-in that put the Islanders ahead 2-1.
The Islanders survived another penalty kill when JG Pageau went off for tripping, and that sequence turned into a long stretch of offensive-zone pressure for New York. But just after that, Quinn Hughes answered for Minnesota with a backhand pass that slipped through Sorokin’s legs to tie it at 2-2.
The third period brought more swings. Adam Pelech went to the box for a weak trip, but the Islanders killed it with Scott Mayfield and Logan Stanley on for the full two minutes.
Not long after, Pelech made up for it by scoring his first goal of the season. The official scoring lists it as unassisted, though Heineman and Victor Eklund did the work along the boards to help create it.
The Islanders couldn’t cash in after Ondrej Palat drew a tripping call that sent Eriksson-Ek to the penalty box, and later Matt Boldy capitalized on a turnover and a rare all-around rough play by Schaefer to knot the game at 3-3.
Sorokin then came up with a huge stop on Olli Maatta alone in front, and Pelech later hit the crossbar, sending the game to overtime.
Minnesota had a strong chance to end it in OT, but Kirill Kaprizov fired high. The Islanders quickly turned that into a transition chance, with Schaefer and Holmstrom breaking in on a 2-on-1. Schaefer chose the shot over the pass and beat Wallstedt for his second goal of the night and the winner.
The Islanders return home to UBS Arena next, where they’ll face the Edmonton Oilers at 2pm on Halloween.
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 🡒]