The Devils have maintained their first-place position in the Eastern Conference, but have lost star player Jack Hughes to a freak and weird injury. Hughes suffered a severe cut to his finger at a team dinner on Thursday; he’s expected to miss two months. Hughes has had horrific injury luck in his career, never playing a full season since his debut in 2019. Past Hughes injuries have derailed Devils seasons, but hopefully this team is more resilient and deep than others. That resilience has been shown so far in the play of young defenseman Simon Nemec. The breakout defenseman has scored five goals in the past three games. He recorded a hat-trick and the game winner in Wednesday’s win. Nemec followed up his star performance with another game winner in yesterday’s win. With Hughes out for two months, the Devils will need Nemec to continue his star ascension in order to stay atop their conference.