EXCLUSIVE: Schaefer’s HISTORIC Performance STUNS NHL | Is He the Next GENERATIONAL Talent?

The bad news is the New York Islanders lost their second straight game to start the season, but the good news is Matthew Schaefer has been outstanding. We’ll talk about his historical day and a lot more coming up on today’s Locked On Islanders podcast. You’re Locked On Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On Islanders podcast. We are part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Locked Islanders your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. I’m Gil Martin. I’ve been covering the New York Islanders for almost two decades and I wrote the book Ice Wars on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 to the modern era. So glad you could join us today to talk a little Islanders hockey and we have got a lot to discuss. Boy, Matthew Schaefer has been outstanding. Another record setting performance by the first overall pick in this year’s draft. We’ll talk about what he’s done and what it means for the team. We’ll also have our key takeaways from the loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. And we’ll look ahead and preview the Monday afternoon matinea, Columbus Day matinea against the Winnipeg Jets. All that plus our Islanders birthday of the day coming up on today’s episode. Gotta start with Matthew Schaefer. And I mean he is as advertised so far and more scoring his first career NHL goal against the Washington Capitals. Made a great play. This one comes with a loose puck in front of the net and he skates up and pokes it home and just incredible uh the enthusiasm, the excitement and the way he played and it went well beyond just scoring a goal. So, he’s 18 years and 36 days old at the time of the goal Saturday night. He became the youngest defenseman to score an NHL goal in 81 years. Ross Jstone scoring for the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 29th, 1944. And keep in mind that’s during World War II when a lot of younger players were in the league because players 18 and older, many of them were fighting in World War II. So just an unbelievable uh mark there. He’s the fifth youngest player in the last 50 years to score a goal. And the other four pretty good company. Alexander Barov, Jordan Stall, Patrick Marlo, and yes, former Islander Nidato Nino Nether Rider. So just incredible. And it’s it goes beyond the goal. Okay. After the game, Islanders head coach Patrick Wah discussed the fact that Schaefer was the best player for the Islanders on the ice and basically W indicated that Schaefer’s great play quote unquote forced him to keep him out on the ice. So Schaefer finishes this game with eight shots on goal. He blocked a shot. He’s on the ice for 26 minutes and 4 seconds. No other Islanders defenseman was on the ice for more than 18 minutes and 48 seconds. And his number was basically five and a uh four and a half minutes more than the next Islanders player which was Matthew Barzal. There is no doubt that Schaefer, he has speed, he has great hockey sense, and he gives you 100% on every shift. He sets the pace for hockey games when he’s on the ice. And I’ll take it a step further. He is also one of the few players on this Islanders roster who can keep up with a Matthew Barzal. And seeing the two of them out there at times together on the power play with their speed, with their skating ability, their vision, there is potential. and the the the the way Schaefer handled the goal. And boy, that what 7 8 minute review after the goal on the hand pass, guys, give me a break, right? I mean, it it’s supposed to be if the replay shows an obvious thing, you overturn it. It shouldn’t take eight minutes. The goal was properly upheld. But look at this. Look at this. Here is a game that the Islanders ended up losing by a score of 4 to2. Schaefer is out on the ice for 26 out of 60 minutes. He is the only Islanders defenseman who was even in plus minus. Ramanov was minus3, D’Angelo minus2, Pel Pock, Mayfield minus one each. what we see. And make no mistake about it, Matthew Schaefer is not as good as he’s going to get. He is not a complete player yet. He still has aspects of his game that need to be worked on. Getting stronger, putting on muscle, positional, defensive play. It’s solid, but it could obviously be better. And look, once he gains experience, puts on a little muscle, gets a little older, the thing about Schaefer is you have no doubt that he’s capable of doing all these things to get to the next level. His work ethic, his enthusiasm. See, this is as an Islander observer, as a as someone who covers this team, who who is a fan of this team, it’s a mixed bag. the the good news is you have found a a player a who is a talent that this roster hasn’t seen in a long time and that’s fantastic and the fact is he really was Patrick Wall was right Matthew Schaefer by far was the best player on the ice in this game for the New York Islanders but the the the bad news or the flip side of that because I think in the short term it’s bad news, but in the long term it’s probably good news. The good news is that it exposes the the number of passengers that this team has far too frequently on the ice. And so you’ve got this guy who who is just faster and and smarter than almost anybody else on the ice. both teams and it’s only his second career NHL game. And I’m not saying he played flawlessly. He needs work in certain areas, but the potential for this kid is off the charts. And his maturity for a kid who’s 18 years and a month old is off the charts. And his enthusiasm is contagious. There was there is something electric about Matthew Schaefer. and watching the way he’s already bonding. He and his family are bonding with the fans of Long Island and the way the fans are enthused about him. I think the the the next most recent example is John Tiveres, who Islander fans were desperate for something better when Tiveres came along. And while Tavveris never quite became the superstar that his first overall pick uh dictated, he became a star. He became a very good player uh who lifted the Islanders up from the bottom of the league to a playoff team. Left the team under the wrong circumstances, but Schaefer, there is something electric about this kid. There is something special about this kid. And you know, defensemen usually take longer than forwards to develop. This kid is there now. And if I had any doubts about whether Matthew Schaefer stays beyond nine games this year, they are all but gone. Yeah. Is it possible he gets hurt? Heaven forbid. Yeah. Is it possible he has three or four bad games in the next, you know, seven games that he’s entitled to before a decision has to be made? Yeah, I’m sure he’ll have his share of games where he just isn’t great. But one thing I can tell after just two games, sending him back to juniors, if you’re making it solely on the basis of hockey sense, it doesn’t help him in his development at all. He will go down to juniors and dominate, but will he grow as a player? Will it make him better? No. It would be stagnation for him. Now, if you want to argue that, you know, we don’t want to waste a year of his ELC because the Islanders team probably, you know, not going far this year and we want to have him ready. You can make that argument from a purely financial standpoint. We don’t want to use a year of his ELC on a a situation where even with him, the team is probably not making the playoffs. I can understand that, but I think it goes against the ultimate goal. And every day will remember, I’ve said talked about this before. The ultimate goal this season, the playoffs would be great. It would be a bonus. I don’t think the team is there, but the ultimate goal this year is to maximize the talents of your younger players. Whether it’s uh uh Matthew Schaefer or A Cal Richie when he starts playing every day, you got to maximize that. And to me, you move out more of the veterans and you end up acquiring more picks, more prospects, and more NHL ready younger players. That is the goal of this season. But as far as hockey is concerned, there is no doubt in my mind that Matthew Schaefer is capable of playing in the NHL. That he has the maturity to handle the NHL. Will he be able to put up with 82 games of the physical pounding that that the body takes? We’ll find out. But this kid is special. And while I’m not ready to declare him the next Norris Trophy winner or the next generational talent, the potential for him to be those things has certainly showed itself in just two regular season games. He’s at a point a game pace, which I don’t think he’s necessarily going to keep up, but boy, this kid has the potential to be something special. We’ve got more to get to on today’s show. We’ll talk about what went wrong against the Capitals on Saturday. We’ll have our hero and go to the game. We’ll also preview Monday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. And for our Islanders birthday of the day, a Princeton University native who went to Yale University and played with the Islanders in the late 80s to early 90s. Let’s see if you can guess who that is. We’ll talk about his impact on the team. All that and more coming up on today’s Lockdown Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you’ve put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You can link all your accounts in minutes. See clear data visuals. Get smart categorization of your spending. And finally, feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. I love how if you and your significant other are sharing an account, Monarch Money can keep you both on the same page. So, don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code lockdown NHL at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on and hl. So the Islanders fall 4-2 to the Capitals in the home opener. And the one thing I got to start with from this game is where was this team in the first 38 minutes of this game? They just did not seem ready to play and that is just not acceptable. You’re behind 4 nothing in the first 35 and a half minutes of this game. And ultimately, you know, you’re not coming back too often, especially a team with the lack of overall scoring depth that the Islanders present roster has. The odds of you coming back from a four nothing deficit late in the second period are not great. And part of this is on the coach. No question. Patrick Wah, it’s been an issue with him and his teams, but the issue predates Patrick Wah. And it remains a problem that the New York Islanders, this is a veteran team. You would think, yes, it is the job of the coach to inspire the players to whatever extent and make sure they’re mentally ready to play. But you go up and down this roster, there are so many veterans, so many guys who have been in this league 8, nine, 11 plus years. Guys who are 30 and over. We’ve talked about that so often on this podcast. They should be motivated. This is the home opener. The blood should be pumping. You should come out excited and ready to play. And for the far too uh many times, this team has not been able to do that. And that is just not acceptable. And it’s something that I want to see. Look, I am a big Andrew Lee fan on and off the ice. I respect everything he’s done. But as captain, this is a situation where Andrew Lee has to step up and basically say to his teammates, “Guys, this isn’t good enough.” And there were some bright spots in this game. Don’t get me wrong, but overall for the first two periods of this game, maybe you count the last couple of minutes of the second period as better for the New York Islanders and then all of the third, but by then you’re losing four to nothing. They have got to be better in their own zone. They have got to clear pucks out of the zone. They’ve got to clear players from out in front of Elia Sroken. And Ilia Siroken has got to be better. I am not going to sit here and tell you Ilia Sroken was the reason the Islanders lost this hockey game. I think their team defense was the number one reason. But in two games, Siroken is 0 and2. He has a 4.21 goals against average and an 860 save percentage. So, I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that Ilia Sroken is the reason that they that they are 0 and2, but he hasn’t played well enough to make them two and 0 either. And again, even with these additions of your Jonathan Druans and your Heinammans and and the fact that you have a healthy Duclair and a healthy Barzal, the Islanders are still in the bottom half of this league as far as offensive talent is concerned. And you you need your goalie you need your goalie to be one of your best players. And in the first two games so far, he hasn’t been. Now, I’m not panicking. It’s 80 games left, right? I mean, okay. But you’ve got to have better. Now, some things that I’ve been encouraged by the power play. Got two goals, both Islander goals against the Capitals came with the man advantage. I I I mentioned after the season opener Thursday night that even though the power play didn’t score, they did get looks. They were moving the puck better. We did see results in game number two Saturday night. And then Anthony Duclair scores a goal. He’s playing better. Kyle Palary leading the team right now with three points in two games. He is off to a solid start, but and and we’ve seen some flashes from Shabanov, who scored a goal in the first game and had some good looks at least uh against the Capitals, but you’ve got to be ready to play. You’ve got to be physical and you’ve got to come out and and hit. And and again, I’m going to mention this. Mark Gatkham came in and replaced Jonathan Druan who was serving his oneame suspension. Gatkam was on the ice for eight and a half minutes and had seven hits. That tied him with Casey Sazikas for the team lead. Amil Heinaman six. He was next on the list. I want that to be your fourth line. Sazikas Gatkam Heinman. not necessarily what’s going to happen, but I can see that being a tone setting physical fourth line. What we saw Saturday night was a how good Matthew Schaefer can be and b how the rest of this roster lacks enough topend talent to compete with some of the better teams. There is a lot to clean up defensively especially. Getting the puck out of your own zone, picking up guys who are in front of the net, picking up the open man, being positionally sound, skating the puck out. These are all things that a lot of the players, not just defenseman, but also forwards need to work on. There’s work to be done. It’s only two games in. I’m not ready to throw away the season at this point, but you know, as I mentioned, every day will recall before the season started, the Athletic gave the Islanders a 30% chance to make the playoffs this year. I said that’s about right, and I stand by it. It there’s talent on this team, but there’s not enough high-end talent. There’s not enough depth, and the defense is a question mark. Alexander Romanov minus3 in the game against the Washington Capitals. He has to be better than he’s been. And it’s not just him. Pel Pock, a lot of these guys struggling in their own zone. It is time to start turning things around. And well, let’s just say we’re only two games into the season, but the next couple of games are against tough opponents. And we’re going to see how this team responds. Hero and go to the game real quick. Hero has got to be Matthew Schaefer. No question about that. And the the go to the game is going to be the team defense. I just need to see Keep it simple. Do the KISS theory. Keep it simple, stupid. Just get the puck out of the zone in transition. You can’t spend 90 seconds, two minutes in your own zone, especially against a talent talented team like the Capitals, and hope it works. We have got more to get to on today’s show. We will preview the Monday matinea game against the defending President’s Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets. We’ll have that, plus our Islanders birthday of the day next on today’s Lock Islanders podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and you’ll get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays to increase my odds. I’ve tried player props and I’ve even followed the live lines during games. It makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding on the action. So whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Again, place your first $5 bet and if it hits, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So, visit fanuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Islanders, Jets, 1:00 Eastern time, the Columbus Day matinea at UBS Arena. And before we even get to the Jets, Sunday’s practice, new line combinations. Why? Because, well, Jonathan Druan back in the lineup. So, the top line for the Islanders in practice Sunday. Horvat, Drewan, and Heinman, Matthew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, and Kyle Palary now on the second line. uh why indicating that Duclair has played well and deserves to be moved up. Your third line JG Pacio who has not looked great so far this year, Anders Lee and Max Shabanov. And then your fourth line, Zikas, Holmstrom, and Ciplov. You had three extra forwards practicing. Kyle Mlan, Mark Gatam, and yes, Cal Richie back out there on the ice. No timetable yet, however, for his return. And then defensively, it’s still D’Angelo Romanov, poach Pelik, Mayfield, Schaefer with Bokefist being the extra uh defenseman. Meanwhile, W announcing that Ilia Sroken will start against Winnipeg. That means he will start all of the team’s first three games. The official quote from W. We have two very good goalies. We’re confident in both of them, but Elia is one of the best in the game and there’s no reason not to use him right now. I’ll give you a reason not to use him right now. Uh you can agree or disagree, but the reason is again you don’t want to wear him out. I don’t want him starting more than 52 55 games all season. Otherwise, you know, he’s more likely to get hurt. He’s more likely to struggle. We mentioned the 15 back-toback games because it’s an Olympic year. I am not saying, “Oh my gosh, the sky is falling because uh he’s starting uh Ilia Sroken three games in a row.” But to me, you got to be really careful about not overusing him. And if you’re not confident in David Riddick, you’ve got to get a goalie, a backup goalie that you are confident in or you know, by the time we get to January, we could be in real trouble as far as Ilia Sroken is concerned. Now, the Winnipeg Jets are the opponent. They are now seventh in the league in goals scored, seventh in goals against. Their power play off to a slow start at 12 a.5%. Their penalty kill at 90%. So that is certainly solid. Connor Hellabuk has started both games for Winnipeg and he’s not off to a great start. 354 goals against average and 8.99 save percentage. You know the names at the top of this lineup. Mark Shiffley, Kyle Connor. Shley, five points in two games. Two goals, three assists. Connor with three goals and a helper. Overall, you look up and down this lineup. They won the President’s Trophy last year. They are a talented team. Shifley, Connor, and Gabriel Valardi are the top line. Jonathan Taves back in the NHL. He’s the 2C with Alex Ayafalo and Nikita Chabriov on either side of him. Latislav Nomesticov centers Nidato Nidarider and Gustav Nyikfist on the third line. So you got a former Islander there in Nether. Morgan Baron centers Cole Kopki and Tanner Pearson on the fourth line. On defense, Josh Moresy and Dylan Dlo are the top pair. Neil Pianc and Hayden Flurry are the second pair. Got to keep an eye on Flurry’s injury status. Logan Stanley and Luke Shen are the third pair. We don’t know if it’ll be Hella or Eric Comry on IR. Cole Perfetti, uh Dylan Samberg and Adam Lowry. Flurry right now listed as dayto-day. Not going to be easy to beat the Winnipeg Jets. They are a big skilled fast team. We know the Islanders have struggled at matineese. They are going to have their hands full with this Winnipeg team and we’ll see how they respond. Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day. And Sunday was the 62nd birthday of former Islanders winger Randy Wood. The Princeton, New Jersey native went to Yale, spent four years there, undrafted. Made his Islanders debut and NHL debut in the 8687 season. scored his first NHL goal in six games. Became a full-time Islander in 8788. Scored 22 goals that year and then had back-to-back 24 goal seasons in 89,90 and 9091. Was traded to Buffalo early in the 9192 campaign as part of the Pat Lontaine trade. later played for Buffalo, Toronto, Dallas, and a brief stint with the Islanders at the end of his career in 9697. Wood, a a middle six, two-way forward, had 175 goals and 334 points in 741 NHL games, add eight goals, 17 points in 51 playoff games. His best game as an Islander, we found a fitting one. January 19th, 1990, Islanders in Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Arena to take on the original Jets. Glenn Healey, the goalie for the Islanders. Bob Essenza, the goalie for the Jets. And after Dale Howard put the Jets up one to nothing, the Islanders go to the power play with Paul McDermad in the box for holding. And our Islanders birthday of the bit of the day, Randy Wood scores his 13th goal of the year on the power play. Allan Kerr and Doug Crossman get the helpers. Then with the score tied 2-2 early in the second again the Islanders on the power play. This time Doug Smail off for charging. Doug Crossman and Jeff Norton uh set up Randy Wood for his second goal of the game. And then late in the period again Islanders down a goal. Wood completes the hattick again on the power play. Pat La Fontaine and Jeff Norton with the assist. Islanders go on to win this one six-4. Trotier’s empty net seals it. But for our Islanders birthday of the day, Randy Wood, he had the hattick. All three goals coming on the power play. He had five shots on goal which tied him with Pat La Fontaine for the team lead. It turned out to be his only NHL hattick. But Randy Wood is our Islanders birthday of the day. I want to thank you for making Lockdown Islanders your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked on NHL game night every game, every night until the Stanley Cup champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. You can find NHL Game Night on Locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. If you have a question, a comment, maybe a topic you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, send us an email at lockedon [email protected]. If you leave your first name and where you’re from, we’re happy to mention you on the show and we discuss whatever’s on your mind. And you could follow the show on X at Locked on Isles. You could follow me, Gil Martin, on X at Icew Wars, NYRVSNY. We’ll keep you up to date on all things Island Islanders all year long and I am live tweeting during nearly every Islanders home and road game. So join me for some instant insight and analysis. And it’s great to talk Island Islanders hockey with you game time or anytime. We will be back tomorrow every day. We’ll have our key takeaways from the game against Winnipeg and we’ll have the latest Islanders news notes and happenings. So make sure you join us for that. Until then, have a great day everybody. Stay safe and of course, let’s go Islanders.

Rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer stuns with record-breaking goal for New York Islanders. Is this 18-year-old defenseman the future of the franchise?

Host Gil Martin breaks down Schaefer’s impressive 26-minute performance in the Islanders’ loss to the Washington Capitals. The discussion covers the team’s defensive struggles, new line combinations, and concerns about overusing star goalie Ilya Sorokin. Martin previews the upcoming challenge against the Winnipeg Jets and celebrates Islanders legend Randy Wood’s birthday with a nostalgic look at his career highlights.

Tune in for expert analysis on the Islanders’ early-season woes and potential solutions as they face off against last year’s President’s Trophy winners.

All this and more on today’s Locked On Islanders Podcast with Gil Martin

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31 comments

  3. Please don’t mismanage this kid, we can not have another Wahlstrom or Ho Sang. Schaefer’s level of talent should prevent their outcomes, but too much toi can be concerning. He can’t be relied upon so soon to do so much.

  6. historic sensation or not the record is still 0-2. one future norris trophy winner wont transform isles fortunes. and 48, 24 got crossed up letting pen get open on pen gw g so isles have to live with the d mistakes of the sensation. isles need that generational guy up front to compliment 48. thats why tanking away this season is best course. finish with worst record and let a 13 type ball jump take that first pick away from isles. you put mckenna up front then isles have something. once isles clear out 27 and 44 that will open up more roster spots for future.
    in the loss even with 2 pp g's isles are not gonna overcome 4-0 deficit and .872 by 30 and win. and 10, 44, 49 were horrible.

  7. Gil i do not share your glorification of Matthew, let me understand something, he is part of a defense that gave up 8 goals in 2 games, you do not mention that. Also you do mention the players who fly by Matthew and score a goal. he got a questionable goal and an assist and now he is God's gift to hockey…he will not last 82 games, he does not have the endurance and people will catch on to how he plays…you realize by Saturday we may be 0-5 but hey Matthew is playing good hockey so i guess nothing else matters, ,,that is sad….

  8. HAS IT BEEN an issue under Roy? Yes. Has it been an issue going all the way back to at least Doug Weight, absolutely. Why I say Isles next Captain & assistant(s) probably not currently on team. FL prior to Tkchuck were out at strip clubs all night prior to afternoon playoff games. They trade guys for proper culture & leadership fits & look what happened. Isles need that.

  9. Gil, there's only one word to describe his play, AMAZING, he has super star written all over him, I'm so proud to be an Islander fan, we have a great future!

  12. Better get some muscle to protect this kid. Way too many scumbags in the league. Someone will take a run at him eventually. They'll test him and we Better have a plan. Knowing what i know about the Islanders, I'm sure they're not prepared. If they mismanage this, we are hopeless

  17. Isles REALLY need to trade some of the Vets , Ritchie, George should be up right now and playing with Schaeffer, Holmstrom, Shabanov, Heinnemen and the rest of the younger core , Let the growing pains happen this Year when You are staring a generational draft with 2 first round picks in the face and in those trades of Vets get that 2nd round pick back . This is not a Cup level Team , blow it up and acccumulate picks and young Players

  18. Schaefer providing the team protects him and he remains healthy could potentially have an 80 point season and be rookie of the year! Something is up with Sorokin potentially having back issues again . Want to see the Barzal with the 2 Russians! We need to unload Pelech and JGP and or Zeeks to allow Ritchie and George to play

  19. Good 🌅, Gil. How are you? Matthew Schaffer put on a show in his UBS Arena debut. He scored his 1st NHL goal. He's the youngest defenseman to score a goal in his 1st game. Patrick Roy said that Schaffer was the best guy on the team. He gives 100% every time he's on the ice. He's still got some growing to do. He's enthusiasm is contagious. John Taveras was just like that, until he turned 🐀. Don't send him back to juniors, PLEASE. The Islanders lost to Capitals at UBS Arena. They didn't show up for most of the 1st period. This is partially on Patrick Roy, but at the same time, the veterans should know better. Once again, IT WAS A COMMUNITY EFFORT. The season is still young. The Islanders got 2 PP goals, Anthony DuClair scored a goal. Marc Gatcomb took Jonathan Drouin's while he's serving a one game suspension.
    Hero, Matthew Schaffer. 🐐 The defense. The Islanders host the Winnipeg Jets at 1:00 this afternoon. Droiun will be back today. Patrick Roy's shuffling like a deck of 🃏 again. Roy also said that Ilya Sorokin's going to be starting, too. The Jets are barely in the top 10 when it comes to putting the puck in the net. HAPPY 🎂, RANDY WOOD. He scored a 🎩trick in a win over the Jets. Hear from you later, but before I go, two. I know that 50 years ago that 🌙, Trots introduced himself to the fans in a big way, Matthew Schaffer introduced himself, too. Also, speaking of Trots, on his 5 for 5 🌙 against the Flyers, a poignant moment. Pete Peeters took a page out of Billy Smith's bag of tricks and slashed Duane Sutter. Now, kid brother, Brent Sutter told Duane to STAY DOWN, PEETERS IS MINE. That's a case of teammates looking out for each other, especially if they're family. But 😊the refs got there 1st. When everything was said and done, Trots added further insult to the Flyers already injured pride by scoring his 3rd and 4th goals of the 🌙 on the PP. It was a 2 man advantage. Now, LET'S GO, ISLANDERS.

  20. Well….I hope Darche has settled in because it's time for him to roll up his sleeves…and get to work. Schaefer snapped the lights on and exposed this roster for what is…not nearly good enough! Time to build a REAL hockey team.😮

  21. Roy needs to be fired with his Assistant! If the coach can’t play a system that works for this team he needs to Go! He can’t play a run n gun game we don’t have the talent, Speed, or size! Roy needs to think about a defensive system until the talent arrives. Exactly the 4 line you put out there Gil !

  23. Good morning team! Gil, you're absolutely right about Schaefer. From what I saw, I agree. He is the real deal. It's just too bad he can't be on the ice for 60 minutes. He plays hard, he's consistent, and I loved the way he pinched to score his first NHL goal. I wasn't very confident playing the Caps in this game, and after the first 2 periods, my suspicion was correct. I rather enjoyed the third period we played though. We finally showed some fight, and Sorokin was finally Sorokin again. During Palms penalty, we know it wasn't technically a PP goal for the Caps, but morally it was a PP goal we gave up. Honestly, I thought the only way we could go 1-3 in our first 4 games was the get the win over the Pens. Now I truly believe we could go 0-4 in these first 4 games. I hope I'm proven wrong. We have the Jets next. Let's keep our fingers crossed, and who knows. Everyone, have a great day! See you all again tomorrow. Until then.. Let's Go Islanders!!

  24. Gil. I have to conclude the GM is moving towards a full rebuild. This team is likely not going to get much better than we've seen. A team with little trade capital, a mediocre farm system, has little choice to build on other than the draft. Will a long losing streak result in Roy being fired? I hope so. Shall we take bets on what their record will look like after the first 10 games? I am thinking 3-7. In both games the team picked up where they left off in the prev season. I am wondering what next draft class looks like because I would expect a very high pick.

  25. THE KID is already a star on the Island, the question is why. IMO, it’s the hustle. We have gone too many years with 1/2 effort players. MS is not only out hustling but he is putting everyone else on notice.
    The goal he scored and the way he scored is exactly how he plays & thats what made is so special.
    Not only does he get the goal but he set that entire play up with the initial great pass to Duclair. THE KID is special

    2nd Game where CC and Lee are nowhere to be found. It’s time to make a change, trade them, do whatever. Get Ritchie & Gleb TOI
    CC & Lee are not the future & are not helping them win currently. Let the kids take over.

    I want to see MS, MB, AD, EH on the same shift. We need a speed package line that can get a quick goal when needed

  30. At this point, does Anders Lee provide anything to the club other than a trade chip to hopefully restock the roster with a draft pick and/or prospects? He's going through the motions already and the season is still young. We will not be able to get a first round pick for his services at the trade deadline. And Lee won't be looking at a high priced new contract when he becomes a UFA. Like Nelson, i'll be happy to see Lee go to another organization. As well as Palmieri. I do believe it's time to move on from Pulock and Pelech as well. Let the "Official" rebuild commence. Down 4-1, with 5 minutes left in the 2nd period, and there's no life in this team or the Arena. Here's a novel idea: instead of being concerned with the in game entertainment distractions, let's do away with the jumbo tron video of fans waving and focus on the on ice product. And do away with the techno rap/crap music throughout the arena. Let Paul Cartier play the organ and let's get back to old time hockey, Reg Dunlop/Hansen Brothers style. Minus Speed Racer and their bleeping toys.

  31. Schaefer is hands down electric and hands down our best player.That being said, he doesnt deserve to be in a losing environment. Saying this after WPG game, but Isles being Boo'd consistently is not good for development. Hes phenominal, just send him down to a winning culture. Hes made a case tonstay, but we gotta start winning to build confidence.

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