Matthew Schaefer scores in OT as Islanders win fourth straight in thriller

SALT LAKE CITY — With the Islanders, it ain’t over ’til it’s overtime.

And this time, it wasn’t over until Matthew Schaefer said it was.

The 18-year old wunderkind had the final say in the Islanders’ 3-2 victory over the Mammoth on Friday night, as he took a feed from Mathew Barzal and blistered a one-timer from the right faceoff dot past Karel Vejmelka 2:06 into the extra session.

The Islanders have a four-game winning streak and a young new superstar who gets more super with each passing night.

“He’s a great player. Unbelievable,” said goalie David Rittich, who claimed his fourth victory of the season with a 27-save performance while giving Ilya Sorokin a breather. “I don’t think I need to say much more.”

Another way to put it could be: Oh, brother is this kid good?!

Twice on this evening, the Islanders endured a brief scare as Schaefer limped off the ice. First was a collision with Utah’s Kevin Stenlund, later a shot he blocked from the point. Each time, he returned without missing a shift.

“Same leg. I’m feeling it for sure. But no way I was going to leave the game,” Schaefer said.

“We were a little afraid that something bigger happened,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said, “and it was nice to see him back.”

Schaefer added it feels more rewarding to be able to finish off the game after taking some serious abuse.

“Day off tomorrow, so I’m definitely going to be icing my legs and getting ready for the next game,” he said. “But yeah, it feels good to get the win when you get a couple of bumps and bruises.”

Schaefer credited his brother, Johnny, for the assist.

“I mean, I got beat up by my brother when I was younger,” he said. “I think that’s like every older brother. So he toughened me up in a way.”

Jonathan Drouin tied the game on a disputed goal. With 6:16 to go, he played the puck off his body and directed it toward the net with his skate. It went in off Utah’s Nate Schmidt and originally was waived off, but after a situation room review, was allowed to count because it was determined Schmidt pushed the puck over the goal line.

“I wasn’t too sure, and I didn’t even know what the final say was on this one,” Roy said. “I think it’s because it hit their guy and he made a play and it went in. But you crossed your fingers and hoped it would turn out in your favor.”

Utah had the speed and territorial edge from the jump. The Mammoth put 10 shots on Rittich in the first 5:56. It was getting a little Rittichulous, but the goalie stopped them all.

As happened on Thursday, when the Islanders were getting outplayed early, they found a way to take a 1-0 lead. Tony DeAngelo’s shot from the right point made it as far as the top of the faceoff circle and Emil Heineman spun and batted it the rest of the way past Vejmelka 7:13 in.

Utah celebrated the apparent equalizer four minutes later, but a league-initiated review determined his shot hit the crossbar and didn’t go in. Just 1:21 after that, the Mammoth did tie the game as JJ Peterka finished a down-low two-on-1 that looked like John Stockton to Karl Malone back in the day at Delta Center.

And then the Isles were down two men for 1:53. That’s when Dylan Guenther gave Utah its first lead on a vicious one-timer from inside the left point.

“I thought this was good for us, good for our confidence,” Roy said of the comeback. “I feel like I felt some swagger in that third period. I felt like we were confident we could come back in that game.”

One thing Roy didn’t appreciate was a misconduct penalty taken by DeAngelo, who slammed the penalty box door and flung the water bottle after a call.

“Yeah, we don’t support that,” Roy said. “We don’t want to have those situations with the referees, and yes, he’s going to have to do a better job in that regard, but he knows that, and he’s a smart player.”