March 18, 2017
(Hershey, PA- March 18, 2017)-Paul Carey scored four goals to lead the
Hershey Bears hockey team to a 6-4 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday night at the
Giant Center. The best game of Carey’s professional career gave Hershey a ninth straight victory on home ice.
Carey started, and finished, the scoring on Saturday. The forward notched the game’s opening tally at 7:50 of the first period. Coming off a four-point night, Christian Djoos found Carey on the right wing. The forward snapped a shot past the glove of Hartford netminder Mackenzie Skapski to make it 1-0 Hershey.
After Christian Thomas added his team-leading 24th goal of the season on the power play to give Hershey a 2-0 lead, Carey struck again at the 7:13 mark of the second period. Travis Boyd fed Carey on the right wing, and the forward snapped a shot past Skapski to make it 3-0.
Riley Barber’s goal at 14:06 of the middle frame ended Skapski’s night and gave Hershey a 4-0 lead. However, Hartford swung the momentum with two power play goals late in the second period. Hartford's Ryan Graves scored a 5-on-3 power play goal at 16:57 to make it 4-1, and Taylor Beck struck at 17:36 on a slap shot to make it 4-2 Hershey.
Carey completed the hat trick at 11:15 of the third period, deflecting a shot from behind the goal line off a Hartford defender and past new goaltender Jeff Malcolm to make it 5-3 on the power play. The hat trick was the first of Carey’s AHL career.
After Matt Carey and Boo Nieves scored back-to-back goals for Hartford at 14:51 and 15:33 of the third period to make it 5-4 Hershey, Paul Carey scored his fourth goal into the empty net at 18:49. With the tally, Carey became the first player to score four goals for the Bears since Mathieu Perreault did it versus Bridgeport on Feb. 27, 2010.
Carey nearly added a fifth goal just before the horn, but the officials ruled no goal as a fight broke out. In the victory, Hershey outshot Hartford 38-19. The Bears were 2-for-6 on the power play and Hartford was 2-for-5.
The Bears battle Bridgeport tomorrow in a critical Atlantic Division game on the road. The puck drops at 3 p.m. from the Webster Bank Arena and the game may be heard on the Bears Radio Network.