Islanders fans spent the opening weeks falling hard for Matthew Schaefer and the young core while trading doom and patience over a streaky team. At 7-5-2, they are Schaefer-struck, ref-scorched, and still emotional over Varlamov finally getting a win.
From Reddit fan threads · through Oct 26–Nov 1 · 7-5-2
Season misery
56Uneasy
Worst week
70Nov 2–8
Best week
36Sep 28–Oct 4
Weekly misery, Monday to Sunday. Above the line is miserable; below is happy.
Storylines
what fans talked about, week by week
Season-long
Praise for Schaefer, Eklund and the kids built weekly, peaking when 19-year-old Matthew Schaefer redeemed a mistake with the winner in Minnesota and fans called him magical.
“I can’t believe I get to watch 48 play for the islanders from his first NHL game onward in my lifetime. He is magical”
