Matthew Schaefer ‘got shivers’ as Islanders fans serenade him

The UBS Arena crowd waited until all of 24 minutes into Matthew Schaefer’s preseason career before starting to chant his name. 

Schaefer, making his preseason debut Sunday night against the Flyers, had picked up an assist on their first preseason goal, his shot popping off Aleksei Kolosov’s pad right into Kyle Palmieri’s path. Palmieri buried it. 

“Matt-hew Scha-efer!” came the chants from behind the Flyers net. 

It was the first time his name echoed in UBS. It certainly won’t be the last. 

“Definitely got shivers,” Schaefer said after the 3-2 shootout loss to the Flyers that will only speed up the hype train for the No. 1 pick in the draft. “We thought it was for [Scott Mayfield], but I guess it was for me. Obviously, you get chills.” 

And the excitement was about a lot more than an assist. 

Schaefer, skating on a pair with Mayfield, played 24:39 and co-led the Islanders with five shots on net. He transitioned the puck with ease and, in his first competitive action since breaking his collarbone at World Juniors in December, looked like one of the best skaters on the ice. In overtime, he closed down a 40-foot gap to break up a one-on-zero breakaway — a play coach Patrick Roy brought up unprompted afterward. 

It wasn’t a perfect evening. Schaefer took two penalties and, on his second shift, sent a pass up the middle of the ice that led straight to a Flyers goal. (Roy would say later that this was a team mistake and a forward should have been there). 

“No one’s perfect, but he’s a strong personality,” Roy said. “Didn’t let that affect him. We won’t let that affect him, I can tell you that. We want him to play his game. We want him to play with confidence.” 

That was just what Schaefer did, even after the error. 

“I thought he was really good,” Roy said. “Really good. It’s pretty exciting to see him play. The backcheck that he made against their guy on the breakaway [in overtime], it was out of this world. 

“It was fun to watch. He’s only 18 years old, but it’s pretty impressive to see him play the way he’s playing. The fans love him.” 

While Schaefer wasn’t the only Islander making his debut — Jonathan Drouin and Max Shabanov featured on the top line, and fellow first-round pick Kashawn Aitcheson was in the lineup too — he ended up overshadowing everything about this preseason opener, which felt like a far bigger deal than preseason openers usually do, in large part because of him. 

As much as the Islanders are trying not to overwhelm Schaefer, less than a week into camp he already is standing out for all the right reasons. He played on both special teams Sunday and was on the ice at five-on-six. It was hard to miss him, just like it has been hard to miss him at every practice so far. 

The path to Schaefer making the team was wide open going into camp. So far, he is charging down it at the same speed he skates. 

“We’re not just good looking,” Schaefer had said Sunday morning, speaking about the Isles draft class, of which Aitcheson and third-round pick Luca Romano also featured Sunday. “We’re pretty good at hockey too.” 

That, it appears, is very much correct. 

“Not amazing, but to get out there, get the feel of things, obviously a lot of things to work on,” Schaefer said afterward. “Maybe don’t get a couple penalties next time, stay out of the box a bit. I thought it was a great start. I’m looking to improve on a lot of things. 

“That’s like every game. Everyone’s trying to improve on things. I thought it was a good start, but obviously, a lot of work to put in my game. Lots of things to work on.”