Yes, the referees did not help, but the islanders themselves are responsible for the hole 3-1

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There’s nothing wrong with the Islanders and their fans being angry at the refereeing of Sunday’s game against the Hurricanes at UBS Arena. Absolutely.

A bad goaltender interference penalty against Zach Parise indirectly led to a 5-on-3 power play for Carolina and the first goal of the game.

A bizarre embellishment penalty on Mathew Barzal shortly after deprived the Islanders of a 5-for-3.

And it all happened in the opening 8:43 of Game 4 of the teams first round playoff series.

So, yes, it’s OK. By all means. Be angry.

But referee Wes McCauley had plenty of help from the Islanders themselves in the events that led to a 5-2 win for the Hurricanes and a 3-1 series lead.

Nobody forced Matt Martin to insert himself into a pre-existing scrum late in the first period that led to a power-play goal early in the second, as coach Lane Lambert said.

No one forced Alexander Romanov to turn the puck over and set up Sebastian Aho for Carolina’s third goal.

The Islanders did almost everything wrong on a frustrating afternoon against an injury-riddled opponent.

The power play was 0 for 3. The power play was just 2 for 5. It was 4-0 early in the third period before the Islanders showed some life.

It was far too late for that.

The Islanders looked strong for the first two minutes, edging Carolina 5-0. Then Jalen Chatfield pushed Parise into Antti Ranta and the world turned.

You [reporters]I saw him, said Parise. You can make up your mind, but I feel like I was pushed towards him.

A little deflating. But you can’t focus on refereeing. You also have to beat them, sometimes. You have to overcome this. Good calls or bad calls, you have to keep playing.

But, of course, it deflates when you have the energy coming out, the exciting build, and all of a sudden you’re 5-on-3 and one in.

Ryan Pulock was called in after sending Jack Drury to the wall, giving Carolina 1:11 of potential time at 5-3.

Seth Jarvis converted a helpless Ilya Sorokin at 4:05 of the first.

Later, the Islanders would have had their own 5-for-3 if Barzal hadn’t gotten that embellishment call after being cross-checked in the boards by Brent Burns.

Barzal, furious, skated over to McCauley to argue. Lambert later said he couldn’t figure out the penalty.

But the real backbreaker was Martin’s penalty, which went uncontested. That led to a Martin Necas power-play goal that silenced UBS Arena.

As electric as the new barn was Friday night for the Islanders’ 5-1 win in Game 1 at UBS, it was just as quiet on Sunday.

Apart from the swearing directed at the officials, of course. A voice rose from the crowd and shouted: You should all be fired!

But while there were boos early in the game aimed at the referees, by the end of the second period most of the boos were aimed at the guys in blue, not the black and white stripes.

When you waste your energy on penalties, it will kill you, said Bo Horvat. We have to find ways to play 5v5 and take penalties instead of taking them now.

While Lambert disagreed with those first two key calls, he did agree that his team took some unruly penalties, no doubt.

Where do the islanders go from here? In Raleigh, for the next game on Tuesday, according to the NHL playoff schedule.

Beyond that looms an uncertain future for an era that seems to be running on steam.

Can the islanders turn the tide? Stranger things have happened, and again, the Hurricanes’ injuries are piling up. (Yes, that could be good news for Rangers in a possible second-round series.)

But the Sunday debacle was as dismal as it gets.

The Hurricanes’ verified Twitter account even got in on the act, posting: We’d be circling people if we lived on Long Island too.

Ouch! It could be fighting words for Islanders fans if the Hurricanes return to UBS for Game 6.

But first, the Islanders have to get there with a luckier, better, and smarter Game 5.

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska, and has been here ever since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and, more recently, media. sports and business.

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