RALEIGH, N.C. — There he was Friday night as the third period wound down. Still skating hard, still diving to get his stick on the puck, still blocking shots.

By unofficial count, Matthew Schaefer stopped no fewer than three empty-net goals in the final minutes of the Islanders’ 4-1 loss to the Flyers, the game well out of hand. You can add in his clearance off the line in the second period after the puck went behind Ilya Sorokin too and make it four saves on the evening.

Friday was not a great night for the 18-year-old, a minus-3 across 28:43 of ice and unable to get the power play going. Neither was Saturday, when he along with every other Islander struggled in a 4-3 loss to Carolina.

Still there were moments — plural — in both where you could not help but shake your head at what he was doing. Still he assisted Anders Lee’s six-on-five goal late Saturday to give the Islanders a chance to tie a game they had no business at all tying, and to break the record for points by an 18-year-old defenseman with 58.