NY Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer leads all NHL defensemen in goals

As if the kid wasn't impressive enough already, Matthew Schaefer is finding himself atop NHL leaderboards almost a month into the season.

Tonight's 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets was one of the more exciting games for the NY Islanders in some time, with the comeback win being one that they've typically found themselves on the wrong side of.

Schaefer leads all NHL d-men in goals

Scheafer's power play goal in the first period was the result of an onslaught from the Isles, seeing them leading after the first stanza. After falling behind late, Schaefer's second goal of the night knotted the score at two, destined for OT before Simon Holmstrom's game-winner with 38 seconds remaining.

Schaefer's first multi-goal game of his career gives him five tallies on the season - the most among all NHL defensemen. Racking up points in the first five games of his career, Schaefer's name was being mentioned among the league's top rookies, but now he's in the same sentence as the league's top defensemen.

As the youngest player in the NHL, it feels as if every night he's setting a record as the youngest player to accomplish a certain feat. Scoring on the power play tonight, his three tallies on the man-advantage are the third most all-time for an 18-year-old defenseman, trailing Phil Housley (10) and Rasmus Dahlin (5), while also tying the Islanders' all-time power play goal record by an 18-year-old with Dave Chyzowski.

It's been an out-of-this-world start to Schaefer's career, and it's hard to fathom that he's in the same statistical category with players like Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. There's still a long way to go until the end of the season, but Scahefer is showing no signs of slowing down, and it'll be interesting to see where he finishes the season.