ESPN play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen previews Thursday's game between the Devils and Blues.

On Thursday night, the New Jersey Devils host the St. Louis Blues at Prudential Center as they continue their three-game homestand. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen handling play-by-play.

Earlier in the week, Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News interviewed Wischusen, who has called multiple Blues' games this season, to preview Thursday night's game.

So, St. Louis

Special Teams

Wischusen cites the power play as the team's most significant statistical improvement since Drew Bannister took over the bench on Dec. 12, 2023. The Blues' power play was a mere 8.5 percent before the interim head coach took over.

"It is the same personnel. The Blues haven't gone out and made any trades. They haven't changed or gotten anything new, they just improved," he said. "They took Jake Neighbours, and I want to say, 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 remember Bannister saying that Neighbours and Sundquist being (utilized as) definitive net-front guys on the powerplay has really improved their production."

Per St. Louis PR, the Blues power play percentage of 25 percent since Jan. 20 ranks seventh in the NHL.

Special teams could be a significant factor in tonight's game. The Blues have not allowed a power play goal to the Devils in six of their last seven matchups, going 18 for 19 (94.7 percent) on the penalty kill in those seven games. St. Louis has scored 11 shorthanded goals this season, tied with the Dallas Stars for the second-most in the league.

Who's That Guy?

"The Blues are still not a very dynamic offensive team. They don't have that guy," Wischusen said.

This season, Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 69 points (20 goals, 49 assists), and Pavel Buchnevich has a team-leading 24 goals.

Unlike the Devils, who have Jack Hughes, Wischusen believes that St. Louis does not have that type of player on its roster.

"That guy that when (a team is) struggling and needs to go on a run, (they) lean on that special goal scorer to go out and take a game over," he said. "They don't have that dynamic speed type player or factor to their game."

"(The Blues) have a lot of guys that I think would be really good, complementary players on a really good team," he continued. "What makes a really good team, right? If you look at the teams either in the playoff conversation or could go and maybe win the Stanley Cup, they all have those next-level difference-making players. The Winnipeg Jets have Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey, and the Dallas Stars have that top line and Miro Heiskanen. Obviously, the Colorado Avalanche with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon. St Louis doesn't have talent on that level."

With that said, the ESPN play-by-play announcer believes the Blues are getting as much as they can out of their players with their roster's construction.

"If Not Now, Then When?"

The Devils and Blues enter tonight's game in the hunt for a wild card spot.

The Devils are eight points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Blues are six points behind the Nashville Predators for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

"Every game the whole rest of the season for both of these teams should be Game 7," Wischusen said. "The coaches should not have to give a win one for the Gipper speech."

The odds of New Jersey making the playoffs are slim but existent. Many things would need to fall perfectly into place, including their competition beginning to lose while the Devils start a winning streak, earning seven victories out of eight games.

"What better way to start, if you have a streak like that in you than against another team that's proven to be vulnerable and is basically in the exact same spot you're in."

Puck drop between the Devils and Blues will be at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN with Wischusen and Ryan Callahan on the call.