Hurricanes’ Martin Necas gets away with throwing punch at Islanders

Martin Necas got away with throwing a punch at the New York Islanders late in his Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-1 loss during Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Friday night.

Necas had been checked into the Islanders’ bench on a hard hit by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and was seemingly frustrated. He responded by throwing a punch at Brock Nelson, who was one of the Islanders players on the bench.

NECAS GETS HIT INTO THE ISLES BENCH AND THEN PUNCHES SOMEONE 😳 pic.twitter.com/QYjsPyKMvA

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 22, 2023

Necas was lucky to avoid a penalty on the play.

The Islanders scored four goals in the third period (two in the final two minutes) to win the game in blowout fashion and take a 2-1 series lead.

The teams also threw down at the end of the game, which could portend a physical Game 4.

So Game 4 between the Isles and Canes should be fun. pic.twitter.com/TEJuXeVzlT

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2023