We haven’t reached the point where Jack Hughes’ image needs to put on a milk carton.

No missing-persons report needs to be placed at the police station.

Not yet, anyway.

But Hughes’ star power has absolutely been absent in this Stanley Cup Playoff series in which the Rangers are threatening to boat-race his Devils, who are down 2-0 and reeling entering Saturday night’s Game 3 at the Garden.

Blame for the Devils trailing this series cannot — and should not — be placed squarely on the shoulders of Hughes, their 21-year-old great hope. But he hasn’t played to superstar standards in this postseason.

And a series like this one is exactly what Hughes’ star power is made for. These are the stages where legends are cultivated and grown. And right now, Hughes, looks like a young player who’s still growing.

Thursday night on Devils home ice at the Prudential Center, Hughes had a front-row seat for a look at how a superstar handles the hottest of spotlights when Rangers veteran winger Patrick Kane — who happens to be an idol of his — took over Game 2 with a spectacular goal and two majestic assists.

Kane, playing in only his 21st game as a Ranger after having been acquired in a trade on Feb. 28, had still been finding his legs and comfort within the Rangers’ system when he broke out with his finest performance in a Blueshirts uniform.

It was no accident that Kane’s breakout game came on the biggest stage of this season to date for him and the Rangers.

Superstars play at their best on the biggest stage. And this is what the Devils desperately need out of Hughes right now.

If the Devils are going to survive this series — or even win a single game for that matter — they’re going to need Hughes to elevate his game, do what his idol did on Thursday night and take the damn game over.

Maybe it’s too much to ask too soon, this being his first playoff experience of what certainly will be many more before his career is complete.

But I loved what I heard out of Hughes both after Thursday night’s loss and was even more impressed on Friday when he refused to lean on playoff inexperience as an excuse.

“Experience didn’t give them a 2-0 lead,” Hughes said. “This has nothing to do with experience. This is them playing better than us. They’ve been playing some very good hockey and we haven’t been playing very well. It comes down we’ve got to pick our game up and play better.”

Good answer. The answer a true leader delivers.

Hughes, who led the Devils with 99 points, with 43 goals and 56 assists, in the regular season, has scored one of the Devils’ two goals in this series. But it came on a penalty shot in garbage time at the end of Game 1 with the Ranger already leading 4-0.

He has 10 shots in the two games, and a few of them have been legitimate scoring chances that were stoned by Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.

There have been clear signs of Hughes trying to pick his teammates up in this series. In Game 1, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Hughes did his best to deliver a body blow to Rangers 6-3, 230-pound winger Chris Kreider. It was an eye-opener for his teammates, who loved it, said it motivated them.

The Devils were scuffling at that moment and it seemed Hughes was doing his best to spark them as a leader, even though checking isn’t his game and he was giving up some 55 pounds to the veteran he tried to crunch into the boards.

“It’s not my game in the regular season,” Hughes explained on Friday of the Kreider hit, “but it’s the playoffs and things change.”

After the Game 2 loss, Hughes was the most vocal player inside the losing locker room, calling out himself and his teammates for the subpar two-game performances.

“Of course, there’s frustration,” he said. “We just got whacked for the second straight game, you know? We’re not playing to our standard, and it’s biting us in the ass right now. Everyone’s got to play better.”

Hughes’ words resonated a day later, with his teammates and coach Lindy Ruff wholeheartedly agreeing on Friday.

“We just need to play a lot better,’’ Hughes said Friday after the team’s 60-minute practice. “I don’t even know if we’ve had so many good periods or minutes where we’ve put the pressure on them. We’ve got to shape our game up.’’

That starts with him. Hughes knows it and he doesn’t shy away from it. And that bodes well for the Devils, at least for the future — even if it becomes too late to save them from the Rangers in this series.