NY Islanders Duo Showing Excellent Chemistry on Ice

“You know, as a line, we just try and keep it simple,” Schenn said, via Tyler Brosious of NHL.com. “We forecheck. You know, try and create turnovers and try and play connected and close with one another.”

Schenn got the scoring started on the night for New York, recording his sixth goal of the season 5:50 into the first period on an assist from Mitchell Chaffee and Ryan Pulock, who returned to the lineup after a multi-game absence for an upper-body injury.

On the Islanders’ second goal of the night, Schenn got on the score sheet again, recording the secondary assist on the power-play goal by defenseman Matthew Schaefer. He wasn’t done, as he recorded the primary assist on the goal scored by Eklund early in the second period.

That was the first three-point game for Schenn since March 28 against the Florida Panthers and the 31st of his career. He has recorded a point in four consecutive games, showcasing elite chemistry with Eklund along the way.

The rookie winger now has seven goals on the season, six of which Schenn has recorded an assist on.

That goal total puts Eklund in the lead among Eastern Conference rookies. He is tied for second in the NHL overall with Trevor Connelly of the Vegas Golden Knights, behind only Roman Kantserov of the Chicago Blackhawks, who has nine.

“Ekky [Eklund] seems to be finding the back of the net right now,” Schenn said.

The rookie winger now has a goal in four consecutive games, putting him in rare company in franchise history. He is the 11th rookie to achieve that feat, and only the third in the last 20 years. The others are Michael Grabner, who had a six- and four-game streak in 2010-11, and Kyle Opkoso, who had two four-game streaks in 2008-09.

The duo of Schenn and Eklund have been dominant this season. They have Corsi and Fenwick percentages under 50, but are outscoring opponents when sharing the ice 11-2, for an otherworldly 84.62%. Those two have generated 41 high-danger chances and scored eight times.