Islanders star rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer gets first taste of rivalry with Rangers
The Islanders' Matthew Schaefer skates against the Minnesota Wild at UBS Arena on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Every indication from the brilliant start of No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer’s time with the Islanders is that he will play against the Rangers many, many, many times in his career. But Saturday night at Madison Square Garden was the 18-year-old’s first foray into the series.
So he can be forgiven for not quite grasping all of the nuances of the historically heated rivalry.
“Not really,” Schaefer said when asked if he’d been thinking about his first Islanders-Rangers match. “Every game is just a game, right? It’s obviously fun with rivalries and all that good stuff.”
Still, Schaefer said he understands the fans’ passion when it comes to Islanders-Rangers. He did experience something akin to it while playing junior hockey for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League against their rival, the London Knights.
“Just in the OHL, we do a similar thing to what Islanders fans do,” Schaefer said. “They sing a song and talk about the Rangers. We did that with the Knights.”
Schaefer was not in the lineup for the Islanders’ 5-4 preseason win over the Rangers at the Garden on Sept. 25, but fellow rookie Cal Ritchie was. Both dressed for the Islanders’ 3-2 preseason loss to the Rangers at UBS Arena on Sept. 29.
Ritchie knows a regular-season game between the rivals is completely different.
“That’s the kind of thing you’re looking forward to,” he said. “That rivalry, the big games that are just super-competitive. You love playing in those. Playing a regular-season game, it’s way more meaningful.”
The Metropolitan Division rivals will play three more times this season, including games at UBS Arena on Dec. 27 and Jan. 28 (followed by a second Garden game on Jan. 29).
Saturday was Anders Lee’s 42nd career game against the Rangers, and he entered the game with 15 goals and six assists against the Blueshirts. His time in the rivalry dates to Jan. 13, 2015, when he scored the opening goal of the Islanders’ 3-0 win at the Garden, and includes games played at Nassau Coliseum.
“I knew about the rivalry when I was drafted,” said Lee, selected in the sixth round in 2009. “I had a family friend of mine take me around the city. We ended up at Penn Station and they had murals on the wall of the series back in the day. He filled me all in. Actually, he’s an Islanders fan, so I learned about it pretty quickly.
“It doesn’t really kick in until you play them the first time. There’s a different feeling. For a regular-season game, there’s a completely different feeling. Whether we were playing at home or on the road, the crowd was into it. There’s some extra juice in the building. You’ve got your fans there even if it’s a road game. The intensity always seemed to ramp up even though it’s just a regular-season game.”
The big disappointment in the rivalry is that the last of their eight playoff meetings came in 1994. They met in five of six seasons from 1979-84.
Tony DeAngelo, who joined the Islanders midway through last season, has seen both sides of the rivalry. He played for the Rangers from 2017-21.
“It’s a great rivalry. I enjoyed it on both sides,” said DeAngelo, originally from Sewell, New Jersey. “When I was with the Rangers, we actually played in the Coliseum. One of my favorite career regular-season games. It was just an electric game. Half the crowd blue, half the crowd in blue and orange. People probably fighting in the stands.
“Listen, guys know each other all around the league. But as far as when you’re playing each other, it’s a legit rivalry between Long Island and New York City.
“I loved my time with the Rangers. Playing at MSG is one of the better things you could do in your career as an NHL player, in my opinion. Now you flip-flop. I get booed in there and I get cheered in here. This is a great organization as well.”
Notes & quotes: Max Tsyplakov drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past four games. He came in for Kyle MacLean, who was a healthy scratch for the fifth time this season.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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