Martin foresaw ‘ramp up’ in series animosity

If Wednesday’s game was when this started to feel like a playoff series — ramped up nastiness and the PNC Arena crowd booing Matt Martin whenever he touched the puck after he interfered with Jordan Staal — then Friday was when the Hurricanes got the memo.

The end to a Game 3 that was otherwise over after Martin’s insurance goal gave the Islanders a two-score lead got heated after Carolina’s Martin Necas was spilled into the Islanders’ bench with 2:19 to go and decided to unload his frustration by trying to punch the nearest available object: Brock Nelson’s head.

That helped set off a chain of events that saw Anders Lee and Jalen Chatfield both get ejected for 10-minute misconducts as well as a shoving match right before the buzzer in which Martin, Casey Cizikas, Brent Pesce and Jack Drury all joined them in the dressing room with misconducts of their own. Oh, and the Islanders scored two more goals to ultimately win 5-1, cutting their deficit in the series to 2-1.

Martin, in a pregame conversation with The Post, more or less accurately predicted the chain of events.

“I think [the animosity will] continue to ramp up,” he said. “You’re playing the same team multiple times.

And they’re standing in the way of what we want and we’re standing in the way of what they want. I think naturally it’s gonna get feistier and nastier as the series progresses. Obviously we can do a better job of being disciplined and staying out of the box, but I think both teams are pretty passionate about what they’re doing and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Even after losing two games in Raleigh, the Islanders felt they were successfully wearing down Carolina. That seemed to come to a head in Game 3, when during the third period, the Hurricanes broke down as the Islanders got stronger.

“We want to finish every opportunity we have to finish [a hit],” Martin said. “It’s the style of game we play. … I think that we want to be physical and every opportunity everyone’s had in this room so far, I think they’re finishing their hits or they’re investing in that, in the series, to wear the other team out.”

After Game 3, their first victory in the series, the Islanders all spoke the same language.

“We’re trying to play hard,” Ryan Pulock said. “I think that’s what gives us success. It can pay dividends throughout a series.”

As for Nelson, Palmieri said jokingly, “Brock’s got a facemask on, so I’m sure he’s OK.”