Barbashev's first hat trick lifts Blues past Red Wings

[March 22, 2019]  Fourth-liner Ivan Barbashev recorded his first career hat trick as the host St. Louis Blues skated to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

St. Louis native Patrick Maroon scored in his career-high fourth consecutive contest, Oskar Sundqvist also tallied and rookie Jordan Binnington finished with 20 saves as the Blues improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games.

Alex Steen had three assists, including setting up both of Barbashev's goals in the second period to push his career point total to 600. He and his father Thomas became the fourth father-son duo in NHL history to each reach that plateau, joining Gordie and Mark Howe, Bobby and Brett Hull, and Peter and Paul Stastny.

St. Louis' David Perron notched an assist on Sundqvist's first-period tally to extend his personal point streak to 17 games, becoming the third player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

Detroit's Thomas Vanek scored twice to give him four points (three goals, one assist) in two meetings with the Blues this season. Jonathan Bernier turned aside 19 shots for the reeling Red Wings, who have lost 13 of their last 16 (3-10-3).

With his mother, father and brother in attendance, Barbashev backhanded a loose puck past Bernier to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead at 3:22 of the second period before cleaning up his own rebound nearly five minutes later to double the advantage. He capped his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 49 seconds remaining in the third period.

 Blues center Ivan Barbashev (49) is congratulated by teammates after scoring his second goal of the game during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Vanek beat a screened Binnington to trim Detroit's deficit to 3-2 at 8:48 of the third period, but Maroon tapped home a loose puck at the doorstep to regain the Blues' two-goal edge just 1:31 later.

Rookie Taro Hirose notched his second assist in as many games after Vanek cleaned up his rebound from the right doorstep to open the scoring at 2:05 of the first period.

St. Louis answered at 11:46 of the session as Sundqvist deposited defenseman Michael Del Zotto's backhanded centering feed past Bernier.

--Field Level Media

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