Brawl breaks out at end of first period between Hurricanes-Islanders in Game 2 [VIDEO]

The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders are in Game 2 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night. The Hurricanes picked up a win in Game 1 by a score of 2-1 to go up in the series. As a result, things are getting chippy with New York down 1-0 in Game 2. Matt Martin is at the forefront and a brawl erupted at the end of the first period after Martin crosschecked Jordan Staal. Martin hit Staal and then also sat on him briefly before being called for interference. Here’s the play by Martin:

So the Hurricanes are up a goal and will start the second period on a power play, before almost scoring at the end of the first. Paul Stastny scored the opening goal of the game while Antti Raanta has eight saves. The Hurricanes had a 4-minute power play but took a call themselves to cut that short in the first.

Here’s the full sequence:

This isn’t the first time Martin has been involved or at the center of a scrum. It’s really one of the only reasons he’s on the Islanders’ roster. Martin has been skating on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck for a while now and this is what they do in the postseason. New York is looking for a spark and you can tell Martin is trying to provoke the Hurricanes and make that happen. The issue now is the Hurricanes just need to score to start the second and the Islanders are on their heels again.