Connor McDavid's record start meets Matthew Schaefer, Islanders

The league scoring leader broke Wayne Gretzky's record with an assist in 13 straight games to open the year, while New York's 19-year-old Calder Trophy winner arrives following an overtime goal against Minnesota.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is in the midst of one of the best season-opening runs in NHL history.

New York Islanders phenom Matthew Schaefer is also doing unprecedented things on a seemingly nightly basis.

McDavid and Schaefer will duel for the first time this season Saturday afternoon, when Edmonton opens a three-game road trip in and around the Big Apple by visiting the Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.

The Oilers have been off since Wednesday, when McDavid had two assists in a 4-0 win over the visiting Calgary Flames. The Islanders closed out a successful road trip Thursday night, when Schaefer scored his second goal 33 seconds into overtime to lift New York past the Minnesota Wild, 4-3.

Edmonton's win resoundingly snapped a two-game losing streak for the Oilers -- who were outscored a combined 11-5 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 24 and Monday, respectively -- and continued McDavid's torrid start.

McDavid has at least one assist in each of the Oilers' first 13 games, which breaks the previous NHL record for assists to start a season at 12 games first set in 1982-83 by Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton legend and the NHL's all-time leader in points and assists. The Boston Bruins' Ken Linseman (1985-86) and the Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (2018-19) each matched Gretzky's streak.

McDavid leads the NHL with 28 assists and 36 points. He is on pace for 181 assists and 233 points in the expanded 84-game season, each of which would shatter the single-season records set by Gretzky in 1985-86, when he had 163 assists and 215 points in an 80-game campaign.

The relative ease with which the Oilers defeated the Flames might help in McDavid's pursuit. McDavid (18:50) and linemate Leon Draisaitl (19:06) each set a season-low for ice time as Edmonton won in regulation for the first time since Oct. 17, when it cruised past the Utah Mammoth 6-2.

"In the end you can roll everybody," Oilers head coach Mike Babcock said of providing a comfortable lead against the Flames. "It looked much more reasonable and sets you up for success long-term."

Few players appear as well-positioned for sustained success as Schaefer, who is following up his Calder Trophy-winning rookie season with a historically durable and productive second season.

Schaefer, who turned 19 on Sept. 5, became the first teenage defenseman with at least three game-winning overtime goals Thursday, when the Islanders completed a 2-1-0 Western Conference road trip.

Two nights earlier, in a 4-3 shootout win over the Nashville Predators, Schaefer became the first player to play all five minutes in a regular season overtime period since official real-time ice-time tracking began in the 2009-10 season.

Schaefer is also the youngest player ever to play at least 30 minutes in consecutive games. He played 30:01 Thursday after recording a career-high 32:16 of ice time against the Predators -- the most ice time for a teenager in a single game since ice time became an official statistic.

Schaefer's two-goal game Thursday was his fifth, tying him with Phil Housley for the most by a teenaged defenseman. And with as many as 71 games remaining in his age-19 season, Schaefer ranks among the top three in team history in goals, assists and points by a teenager.

"That competitiveness and edge he has to be a difference-maker is really rare," Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer said.

--Field Level Media