Trending: Vanek nets two in 5-2 loss to Blues

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues are a different team than the one the Detroit Red Wings beat early in the season.
The Wings won the first game between the teams, 4-3, on Nov. 28 at Little Caesars Arena.

Despite a good effort, the Red Wings could not complete the season sweep as Ivan Barbashev had his first career hat trick to give the Blues a 5-2 victory at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis Thursday night.
Thomas Vanek scored both goals for the Wings.
Oskar Sundqvist, Barbashev (three, one empty net) and Pat Maroon scored for the Blues.
Detroit goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 19 saves. St. Louis rookie sensation Jordan Binnington had 20 saves.
The Red Wings fell to 26-38-10 while the Blues improved to 39-27-8.
Up next for the Wings is a Saturday night date with the Golden Knights in Las Vegas, the third game in a five-game road swing.
The Blues host the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
1.Thomas Vanek: At 2:05 of the first period, Vanek went to the net and was ready when rookie Taro Hirose got him the puck on the right doorstep. It took a couple whacks for Vanek to beat Binnington and give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Frans Nielsen got the second assist. At 8:48 of the third, Vanek's shot from the point eluded Binnington with Tyler Bertuzzi bothering him. Madison Bowey and Niklas Kronwall got the assists. Vanek now has 16 goals, tying him with Bertuzzi for third on the team. Andreas Athanasiou leads with 28 and Dylan Larkin is second with 27. In 23 career games against the Blues, Vanek has seven goals and eight assists. TGhe veteran finished with 18 shifts for 14:45, had a game-high five shots and was even.

Quotable: "I think I felt good in camp and then we all kind of had a tough start there. Then, from my knee injury, it took me a lot longer to get going again. Ever since Christmas, really, I feel a lot better. Again, just trying to finish the year off here on a good note." - Vanek
Quotable II: "Vanny is a true pro, an extremely smart player, one of the smartest players I've played with over the course of my career. Good in the room. It's good to see him get rewarded. We could have used him for the stretch that he was (injured). That's how offensively gifted he is. He brings a lot to the team, not just on the ice but off the ice as well." - Kronwall
Quotable III: "He competed extremely hard tonight. I thought he was one of our best forwards. Him and Taro probably. He competes hard every night. Sometimes he turns too many pucks over. That's part of his positive thing, that he wants to make lots of plays. But I think he's had a real good second half since he's come back, done a real good job, especially over the past two months." - Wings coach Jeff Blashill
2. Taro Hirose: Just a week removed from his college days at Michigan State, Hirose seems to be fitting right in with the Red Wings. Playing with veterans like Vanek and Nielsen certainly helps. In the first period, Hirose drove to the net through the slot and dished the puck to Vanek, who got the game's first goal. The assist gave Hirose two points in his first two NHL games. Hirose, who also got power-play time, finished with 18 shifts for 16:12, had two shots, was 1-for-1 in face-offs and was minus-1. Of his 16:12, 50 seconds came with the man-advantage.

Quotable: "Those guys make it so easy to play out there. We're always talking on the bench, just trying to pick their brains and get as much information as I can. I felt like I was able to hold onto the puck a little longer and maybe not as nervous the entire game, to not make mistakes, go out there and play my game. In that sense, a little bit more comfortable." - Hirose
Quotable II: "He's a smart player. Playing with him is actually real easy. He's had what, two games? The poise he has, it's fun to play with a guy like that who thinks the game at a high level. You can tell right away. And he's not afraid to make plays, cut to the middle and hold on to pucks. Really impressed so far with him." - Vanek
Quotable III: "Poise, vision. It looks like he wants to make a play every time he has the puck. Seems to be fairly slippery. Early in the first, he got squeezed off right away in the first period in the corner in the O-zone. We made a comment to him about spreading the zone and right away the next shift, he goes out and he spreads the zone. He seems to be pretty smart. So far, I think he's done a real good job." - Blashill
Quotable IV: "I think that's very noticeable. I thought tonight he was even better than in New York. I think he was even more comfortable. The seemed to follow him out there. Excellent vision, made some really nice plays. The puck just kept following him. It was definitely good to see." - Kronwall
3. No three-game win streak: Extended win streaks have been hard to come by for the Red Wings this season. After victories over the New York Islanders at home and the New York Rangers on the road, the Wings were trying for their first three-game win streak since Jan. 22-Feb. 2, when they beat the Oilers in Edmonton, the Toronto Maple Leafs at home and the Senators in Ottawa. The penalty kill was solid, killing off both St. Louis power plays. The Wings only had one opportunity on the power play and had some chances but could not convert.
Quotable: "I thought we did some good things out there. But at the end we're coming up short. It's a lot more fun to win games. But I thought we did a lot of good things tonight. I thought we also put ourselves in some trouble that we didn't have. A lot of times, it starts with a good first pass coming out of our zone. We got hemmed a few too many times because of our own mistakes." - Niklas Kronwall

Quotable II: "I thought our effort was excellent, to be honest with you. I thought we competed real hard. We stubbed our toe a couple of times when we didn't need to. I thought our breakouts, the second and third goals were both preventable goals. We had the puck on our stick and the next thing you know, it's in our net. Overall from an effort and a compete standpoint, I thought it was excellent." - Blashill