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

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.

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.

Brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each collected a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils scored four times in the second period and rolled to a 5-0 rout of the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night in Newark,

The Timo Meier breakout is coming, and the New Jersey Devils sure could use it. All signs have been pointing this way, and history has shown, at least since joining the Devils, that Timo Meier is a second-half player.

Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee scored goals 24 seconds apart for the Flyers to put New Jersey at an early deficit by the 11:32 mark of the first. Garnett Hathaway added the Flyers third goal at 2:49 of the second before New Jersey would find a way to capitalize on their own chance.

New Jersey scored four times in the second period and Jake Allen made 24 saves as the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Wednesday. Ondrej Palat, Luke Hughes, Nathan Bastian and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey in a 13-minute span as the Devils won for the third time in four games.

New Jersey scored four times in the second period and Jake Allen made 24 saves as the Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Wednesday.

NEWARK, NJ - The Devils’ offense came alive, thanks to a four-goal second period, to triumph in the second half of a home-and-home series against Philadelphia in a 5-0 win at Prudential Center Wednesday night.