The 22-year-old phenom, Jack Hughes, has taken the league by storm. With 45 points in 32 games, the star center has become a highlight reel for the Devils. Although, as of recent he has become injured for the second time this season with an upper body injury. This has set the Devils back a bit as they have a record of 2-4-1 without Jack Hughes this season and a record of 19-11-2 with him in the lineup. Their previous game against the Tampa Bay Lightning resulted in an overtime loss, which is significant because this could have resulted differently with Hughes in the 3 on 3. Having 2 overtime goals on the season and 6 overall within his career, he is the player that they need to pull out those type of wins.

With the Devils playing the Florida Panthers on Saturday Jan. 13, and Hughes still out of the lineup, the rest of the team must pull out a win to keep up with the rest of the teams in their division. The Devils are 5th place in their division and currently sitting out of a playoff spot, so every game moving forward for them is important. The season series so far between the Devils and Panthers is 1-0 in favor of the Panthers. With the Devils on a 2-game losing streak and the Panthers on a 9-game winning streak, the Panthers are highly favored to win this game.

Hughes has recorded at least one point in each of his last 10 Saturday night appearances, which shows how vital he is to the team. Even though he won’t be playing tonight the Devils have a 12-6-1 record this season on the road. This is a big opportunity for players like Nico Hischier, Eric Haula, Luke Hughes, Dawson Mercer, and Tyler Toffoli to prove that they can win without their star player.