Miles Wood understood the struggles teammate Pavel Zacha was going through. After all, Wood went through some of the same things.
The two second-year Devils broke into the league around the same time, and while Wood seemed to take a step in his game during his second season, where he is second on the team with 14 goals, Zacha got off to a slow start.
Wood and Zacha started playing together on a line as the season progressed, and Wood passed on some of the same advice he got: calm down.
"Earlier on this season he would just kind of grip the stick too tight. We all go through that stage as players," Wood said. "When I started to play with him, I said, 'Pavel, look. You have the skill, you have the talent. Just calm down. I had to go through that calm-down period, too. Just play your game. I'm here to support you, and let's see what we can do.'"
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Since the two have been united on a line, Zacha's game has turned. The points aren't piling up, but Zacha's impact is much clearer. He plays with consistent effort and battles on the puck on both ends, and the scoring chances have started to surface.
After being a healthy scratch for a handful of games in November and December, Zacha has been bumped up to the second line, where he has combined with Wood and now right wing Kyle Palmieri.
As a rookie, the Devils let Zacha play through his struggles since competition for ice time was much less fierce in 2016-17. Following the Devils' red-hot start this season, the team needed Zacha to show a higher level to stay in the lineup.
"We need him to play a little bit like he is now, and we still need him to take the game to another level," Devils coach John Hynes said. "But it's the combination of understanding what it is, and you can call that accountability, you can call that pressure to play a certain way or standards of how we need him to play.
"It's how you grow a young player. You don't just grow one by playing him. You grow players, by if they're playing well and do the right things, then they get ice time and they earn that ice time."
Zacha's effort was rewarded with two assists in Thursday's 4-3 win over the Flyers. It was Zacha's third two-point game of the season.
As the sixth overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, Zacha has always carried high expectations. He is still just 20 years old, but he appears closer to making a step forward with his play.
"We don't give players confidence as a coach. They have to earn it by doing the right things," Hynes continued. "You're seeing a young guy that went through some struggles last year, came in and went through some struggles this year early, but to his credit, he's worked through them. He's understood what it is, took his medicine at times, and now you see a better player."
Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.