NEWARK—Now that the New Jersey Devils have officially ruled out their captain, there are holes in the lineup that will need to be plugged. At 5-on-5, the natural player to fill the void has been Dawson Mercer.

The New Jersey Devils will now be without perhaps their most valuable player as injuries mount. Captain Nico Hischier will miss the Devils' game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night with an undisclosed injury,

Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Garnet Hathaway scored to help the Flyers build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the Devils​ 4-2 on Monday.

NJ Devils coach Sheldon Keefe reflected on the team's 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. The Devils were without captain Nico Hischier, who returned to New Jersey for evaluation after suffering an undisclosed injury during Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Canadiens.

The New Jersey Devils have been going through quite the rough skid, dropping nine of their last 11 contests. The Devils’ “big four” – Jack Hughes, Jesper

With New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier out of the lineup, Dawson Mercer will start Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers as the team's second-line center. "To me, (Mercer) was outstanding in the third period the other night in Montreal when we asked him to step into that role," head coach Sheldon Keefe said to NJD.TV.

Dawson Mercer scored two goals in the second period, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Timo Meier had two assists for the Devils (27-17-6), who are 1-2-2 in their past five games. Jacob Markstrom allowed one goal on seven shots before sustaining an undisclosed injury early in the second period.

Dawson Mercer scored twice during New Jersey's four-goal second period, and the Devils beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Wednesday night. Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist,

This is the second of a home-and-home series. Philly won its home game on Monday, 4-2, over New Jersey, which will host the Wednesday matchup.

The Penguins' secondary scoring has evaporated, placing a bigger burden on top-liners Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. That's part of the logic behind a double-double stack for Josh Inglis, who presents his three best NHL props for tonight.

When the Carolina Hurricanes rocked the NHL world to its core with the Mikko Rantanen trade, many people within the Devils community immediately turned their attention to General Manager Tom Fitzgerald to see how he would respond.

A slump and some injuries are creating a situation where the New Jersey Devils are closer to a wild-card spot than to the lead in the Metropolitan Division.