PITTSBURGH — Matthew Schaefer jumped onto the darkened ice at PPG Paints Arena and, along with New York Islanders teammate Maxim Shabanov, took the traditional solo lap every player makes before his NHL debut.

It’s the only time the 18-year-old Schaefer looked like a rookie all night during New York’s 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh.

Confident and poised from the opening faceoff, the top pick in the June draft wasted little time showcasing why the Islanders coveted him after the balls bounced their way during the draft lottery.

Schaefer needed all of 12 minutes to collect the first point of his career, making a deft pass from the half wall to Jonathan Drouin in the slot. Drouin’s knuckler fluttered by Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry to pull New York even.

“Our team is so easy to make plays with, everyone is in the right spot,” Schaefer said with a shrug. “I found [Drouin] there, and it was an easy pass to him and of course he puts it in the back of the net.”

Islanders coach Patrick Roy didn’t hesitate to go to Schaefer, who played more than seven minutes in the opening period alone. Schaefer finished with 17:15 of ice time in all, including some with the New York net empty late as the Islanders tried to tie it.

“I thought he was really good,” Roy said of Schaefer. “He was good at the end. Throwing pucks at the net. I thought that he seemed very comfortable, very confident out there. So I’m very pleased with him.”

Schaefer, who had around 30 friends and family in attendance, admitted there were some jitters during his first couple of shifts, but he didn’t exactly genuflect in the direction of Penguins icons Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. The club’s big three are entering their 20th season playing alongside each other, a run that began before Schaefer was born.

Although Schaefer isn’t entering the league with the same external expectations that followed Crosby two decades ago — when Crosby himself arrived in the league at 18 as the top pick in the draft — Schaefer understands how important his arrival and development are for a team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in more than 40 years.

Yes, it’s cool that he made the club out of training camp barely a month after turning 18. He’s not here to sell tickets and generate interest, but to help the Islanders take a step forward in the competitive Metropolitan Division sooner rather than later.

Near breathless as he talked after becoming the second-youngest NHL defenseman to make his debut in 70 years, Schaefer wasn’t as interested in trying to put the moment in perspective as he was regretting the result.

The Islanders controlled the game for extended stretches and threw 38 shots at Jarry. Save for a couple of costly breakdowns in front of their own net — which allowed Malkin and Crosby to work their magic — the Islanders played with speed and purpose, which they hope offers a blueprint for what’s to come, the new kid included.

“I thought we brought it tonight,” Schaefer said. “Wish we could have got the win. Hate losing. Now we know and we’re going to learn from it and focus on our next game. But I thought it was a great first game for us. I just wish we got the win.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mike Sullivan has another souvenir to add to an already large personal hockey collection after being presented the game puck following his first victory as coach of the New York Rangers.

It might not match the two Stanley Cup titles he won during his 10-year tenure as the Pittsburgh Penguins coach, but the significance of the 4-0 victory over Buffalo wasn’t lost on Sullivan on Thursday night.

“It’s humbling,” said Sullivan, who is from Massachusetts and the only U.S.-born coach to win at least two Cups.

“I’ve said this on a number of occasions since I got the job that it’s an incredible honor to be the head coach of the New York Rangers, a franchise that has such history to it,” Sullivan added. “It’s just a privilege that I don’t take for granted.”

The victory was the 480th of Sullivan’s career and came two days after the Rangers opened with a 3-0 home loss to the Penguins. Sullivan was fired by Pittsburgh after missing the playoffs for a third straight season, before almost immediately landing in New York after the Rangers fired Peter Laviolette.

For Sullivan, he’s getting a fresh start in a familiar place after spending four seasons as a Rangers assistant under John Tortorella. And he’s tasked with the responsibility of providing structure and discipline to a team that unraveled both on off the ice in missing the playoffs last year.

The win over Buffalo was but a start for Sullivan, who got in a laugh recounting how newly appointed captain J.T. Miller presented him the puck.

“[Miller] made a joke about how long our video meetings are,” Sullivan said. “But they’ll continue to be long until we get on the same page.”

Though there’s still much to work on, Sullivan was impressed by his team’s response after a lackadaisical outing against Pittsburgh, which was sealed by two empty-net goals.

On Thursday, the Rangers outplayed the Sabres through much of the first period in building a 1-0 lead on Alex Lafreniere’s goal 11:43 in. Coupled with Igor Shersterkin’s 37-save outing, the Rangers closed strong with three goals in the final five minutes.

“I’m excited about the group of players that we have here. I think there’s a certain enthusiasm around the team right now since Day 1 of training camp,” Sullivan said. “It’s tangible, we can feel it. And I think we’re building a relationship with the players right now that will be meaningful moving forward.”

RALEIGH, N.C. — K’Andre Miller didn’t need preseason game action to get a fast start with his new Carolina Hurricanes teammates.

The defenseman twice found the net in Carolina’s 6-3 season-opening win against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night, showing a glimpse of the potential that enticed the Hurricanes to acquire him from the New York Rangers and sign him to a long-term deal.

“It was amazing, I loved it,” Miller said.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Miller spent much of preseason wearing a yellow noncontact jersey in what coach Rod Brind’Amour called a precautionary move before he shed that to ramp up in the final week or so of camp. He was in a pairing with Jalen Chatfield, working 19-plus minutes of ice time with a team-high 31 shifts.

“I thought he was exceptional,” Brind’Amour said. “Take the goals away, even — just impactful.

The Hurricanes saw the 25-year-old former first-round pick as an ideal fit for their aggressive system with his size and skating ability. He had shown flashes of his potential with the Metropolitan Division foe Rangers, including posting 17 goals and 56 assists for 73 points over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

But his play fell off last season as he went from building block to expendable in a rough finish to his time in New York. So the Hurricanes made the trade on the first day of free agency, then gave him an eight-year contract paying an average annual value of $7.5 million through the 2032-33 season.

Carolina has won a series in seven straight postseasons, including reaching the Eastern Conference final twice in the past three seasons before falling to two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida each time.

The Hurricanes looked to Miller and the signing of free agent Nikolaj Ehlers as part of their next steps to playing for the Cup. And they are looking for Miller in particular to bolster a system that relies on an aggressive forecheck to pressure opponents, get control of the puck and keep it to maintain pressure in the offensive zone.

He just decided to bring the offense to his Carolina debut, too, on a night when the Hurricanes repeatedly rang the post against Jacob Markstrom.

His first goal was unexpected. He took a puck from William Carrier along the boards and flicked it toward Markstrom from the slot. The puck appeared to deflect off Devils forward Nico Hischier, then slip past Markstrom as a hopper for a 2-1 lead midway through the second.

His third-period goal was far different: a powerful blast from near the left circle that sent the puck slamming off Markstrom’s glove, skittering off his arm and behind him into the net.

“Two quite different goals there,” said forward Seth Jarvis, who had the go-ahead deflection late in the third followed by an empty-netter from beyond the blue line. “But you could tell from the first time he stepped on the ice in practice at training camp that he’s a special player. And he’s still young, so I can only imagine what level he’s going to get to.”

Miller’s second goal sent the Hurricanes home crowd into a roar, with Miller kicking up his leg and yelling in celebration then motioning for more noise from the crowd before heading to the bench.

“I think that was one of the biggest things, just making a good first impression,” Miller said of his debut. “I think the guys have done an amazing job of getting me caught up to speed. And this adjustment period has been honestly very simple. Very easy, and all the guys are pushing me in the right direction.”