Bob Wischusen, ESPN’s play-by-play announcer, previews Thursday’s game between the Devils and Blues
The New Jersey Devils will play the St. Louis Blues at Prudential Center on Thursday night, continuing their three-game homestand. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen calling the action.
Earlier this week, Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News interviewed Wischusen, who has called several Blues games this season, to preview Thursday night’s matchup.
Wischusen identifies the power play as the team’s greatest important statistical gain since Drew Bannister took over as coach on December 12, 2023. The Blues’ power play was only 8.5 percent before the interim head coach took over.
“It’s the same personnel. The Blues have not made any transactions. They haven’t altered or received anything new; they’ve simply improved,” he explained. “They put Jake Neighbours and, I believe, Oskar Sundqvist on the A and B units and made them the net front guys, and the powerplay improved over the next few months.” I recall Bannister noting that using Neighbours and Sundquist as decisive net-front players on the powerplay had significantly enhanced their productivity.
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