Hershey Bears: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Last Week's 3-in-3

The Good

Despite the struggling this weekend with a narrow 2-1 loss Friday night in Hartford, a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday in Lehigh Valley, and a 3-2 shootout victory Sunday at Giant Center to the Phantoms, the Bears sit just one point out of second place in the Atlantic Division, a far cry from a season ago when the team had to go on an incredible win-streak to make the playoffs.

“It’s been a real difficult weekend,” said Carberry after Sunday's win. “We had a hard-fought game in Hartford, we traveled to play Lehigh...another really hard-fought game, and then our third to come back and finish the way we did...it was a big weekend. Another step in the right direction for our team.”

The Bad

While Hershey recorded a powerplay goal (finally) on Sunday night, the Bears struggled through Friday and Saturday nights, going 0-for-6 and giving up a shorthanded goal to Lehigh Valley Saturday.

Ranked 30th in the league heading into Sunday’s rematch with the Phantoms in Hershey, Philippe Maillet finally broke the drought with a goal early in the second period to tie the game 1-1. Matt Moulson and Martin Fehervary recorded assists on the first power play goal without Travis Boyd since opening night.

“Phil Maillet, who’s been a little bit snake bitten early in the year offensively... I like Scott puts him right back out there on the powerplay,” said Carbery. “That was a good job finding a rebound and getting us on the board. It’s nice to get a powerplay goal.”

The Ugly

Kale Kessy, in only 302 professional games, surpassed a milestone in career penalty minutes after a second period altercation with Kurtis Gabriel, recording 1000 career penalty minutes.

According to the Hershey press release, Kessy has accumulated 1,006 penalty minutes in the AHL and ECHL, nowhere near former Hershey winger Dennis Bonvie’s 4,804 professional penalty minutes, 4,493 of which came in the AHL. He’s 753 shy of another Bear, Louis Robitaille, who currently sits in 20th

Head coach Spencer Carberry

On the OT block by Hobbs

“That’s the first thing I said in the locker room. That’s the definition of sacrifice right there when you’ve got 30 seconds to kill off a 4-on-3 and you have Greg Carey, for people who don’t know, has one of the hardest shots in the league, if not North America, and he (Hobbs) just throws his body right in front of that...that is not an easy thing to do,” said Carbery. “I have a ton of respect for Hobbsy already, but even more so, that block is pretty emblematic of our game.”

On the return of Liam O’Brien

“His presence, his energy, on the bench, his personality, you know when the Big Tuna is in our locker room and when he’s in Hershey,” said Carbery. “A Sunday afternoon, sometimes it’s tough, guys come to the rink at 3:00, they slept in a little bit, and you’re trying to build up energy and excitement. It’s an important game, let’s come out with a ton of pace and a ton of urgency, and he’s the guy that’s driving that before the coaches even get in the room.”