Hurricanes return to Long Island, where Martin Necas hasn’t made many friends
Brock Nelson took a run at Martin Necas midway through Game 4, sending him spinning to the ice. Cal Clutterbuck did the same, legally this time, as Necas tried to maneuver across the blue line in tight quarters Tuesday in Game 5.
The New York Islanders may not be targeting Necas, even if it has seemed that way at times since Necas was checked into their bench at the end of Game 3 and came up swinging at Nelson. Their fans certainly have since then.
As the series heads back to Long Island, where the rowdy partisans at UBS Arena serenaded Necas with predictably profane chants last week, one of the Hurricanes’ least likely candidates to become a villain has become the Islanders’ least favorite opponent in the five games of this series.
“He put me on the bench there, and they were breaking my stick. I wouldn’t punch him without that,” Necas said. “If I just get hit there, and I’m on the bench, if they would give me the stick, I’d be fine. I just saw they were stepping on my stick and breaking it on purpose. That’s why I did that in response. Obviously, it happens. Sorry for that. But they did their job, too.”
Going into the series, Necas was not among the Hurricanes expected to be singled out for opposing opprobrium. Whatever list there might have been, someone like Jordan Martinook or Jalen Chatfield — players who rarely miss an opportunity to finish a check — would have been a more reasonable prediction. There may be only one Hurricane less likely to be targeted for scatological serenades.
“He’s probably in the bottom five guys on the list,” said Jaccob Slavin, previously recognized for his gentlemanly play with the Lady Byng Trophy. “I’d put myself into that mix, too.”
These things tend to happen along obvious lines, the way Hurricanes fans (or players) centered their rage on Matt Martin in this series, or Scott Stevens, Brad Marchand and Erik Haula — perhaps for a third time, if the Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils both advance — in the past.
With the exception of Haula’s running beef with Necas during the Nashville series in 2021, the unassuming Czech winger doesn’t seem like a candidate, even less so than Warren Foegele after his hit on T.J. Oshie in 2019. Foegele was surprised to be the sudden focus of the Washington Capitals’ attention.
But strange things happen in the playoffs, whether it’s Mackenzie MacEachern becoming an instant star or Max Domi providing the offense to win a Game 7 or Necas becoming a target.
That’s not a concern for the Hurricanes, but this is: While Necas has been solid on the power play, his line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been the Hurricanes’ weakest at five-on-five — and, Tuesday, four-on-four as well, when Necas’ turnover trying to cut through the middle of the ice gave Mat Barzal an open path to score what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Five-on-five, the Kotkaniemi-Necas combo, whether with Stefan Noesen or Jordan Martinook, has been outscored 4-0 and has the worst possession and expected-goals numbers of any of the Hurricanes’ consistent lines. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour even moved Martinook off of Jordan Staal’s line before Game 4 — breaking up a proven combination — to swap him with Noesen in an attempt to jump-start Necas and Kotkaniemi.
“They’ve got to be better,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s no doubt. Not terrible, but a couple mistakes and they end up in your net, it magnifies. It’s not like they’re getting pounded out there. Just a couple times they’ve had a decision, questionable decisions, and it’s cost us. We need everyone to play well. We know it. There’s no way around it. We need a little more out of those guys.”
Necas has made up for some of that on the power play, but with the Hurricanes already missing Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty, and now Teuvo Teravainen, players like MacEachern and Paul Stastny have stepped up — and Sebastian Aho propelled the Hurricanes to one win and nearly another — but Necas is one of the few players capable of truly filling the void in a series where goals have not been easy to come by.
The Islanders and their fans hate him already. The Hurricanes really need Necas to give them another reason Friday.
“If they don’t like me, they don’t like me,” Necas said. “I’m happy to be playing in their building. If they’re going to be chanting that, and I score, I’m going to be twice as happy.”
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This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Hurricanes return to Long Island, where Martin Necas hasn’t made many friends."
