Matthew Schaefer Made NY Islanders, NHL History Against Predators

Matthew Schaefer has added another incredible achievement to his ledger against the Nashville Predators.

Oct 22, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (48) skates against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

New York Islanders fans are certainly thrilled to have defenseman Matthew Schaefer on their side and not have to worry about how their favorite team will slow him down whenever facing him.

The No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Schaefer wasted no time proving he was worthy of being the first player off the board. He had a historic rookie campaign, being a unanimous selection for the Calder Trophy after recording 59 points, scoring 23 goals to go along with 36 assists.

Already viewed as a superstar by evaluators after one season in the NHL, everyone was curious to see what he had in store for an encore. So far, he has picked up right where he started, even making some incredible history against the Nashville Predators in the team’s most recent game.

It was a special evening, getting a shootout victory after a 3-3 game on the road. It was the first time Semyon Varlamov was victorious in nearly two years. Helping him get that win was Schaefer, who did something no one in NHL history has yet to do.

Matthew Schaefer makes history playing entire overtime period

Schaefer played all five minutes of the Islanders' overtime and still was somehow able to come up with defensive plays like this pic.twitter.com/8inbykNMBu

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) October 28, 2026

According to NHL Media, as shared by Tyler Brosious of NHL.com, the Islanders’ star defenseman is the first player to skate all five minutes of an overtime period since 2009-10, when real-time time-on-ice data was officially tracked.

Along with the NHL history, Schaefer also made franchise history with his overtime shift. As shared by ESPN Insights on X, it is the longest shift a New York player has ever had in the same time frame. The previous long shift was Casey Cizikas, who played 4:50 consecutively on March 9, 2023.

That contributed to a single-game career-high of 32:16 played, but Schaefer looked no worse for wear. Late in the overtime period, he stopped a potential Predators breakaway, showcasing his excellent speed.

Matthew Schaefer played ALL FIVE minutes of overtime 🥱

That is the longest shift by an Islanders skater on record (since 2009-10 when real-time TOI data was officially tracked), besting the previous mark set by Casey Cizikas (4:50 on March 9, 2023). pic.twitter.com/6MQQKB9mMG

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) October 28, 2026

“He was all over the ice tonight, like he is every night,” Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer said. “He just wants to make a difference every shift, and that's what's so special about him.”

As is the case every time he takes the ice, Schaefer stuffed the stat sheet. He recorded an assist, giving him at least one point in five straight games, and had two more shots on goal. One hit and two blocked shots were recorded as well.

It remains to be seen if this kind of workload is sustainable. At 19 years old, he certainly looks capable of holding up no matter how many minutes he is asked to play for the time being, but it would be in the organization’s best interest if he doesn’t continually make minutes-played history, especially this early in a marathon regular season.