He’s the center of attention. A first-round pick, his skating might be his biggest advantage out on the ice. He’s been in and out of the lineup, but one had to figure that once he picked up his play, he could play a role for the Bruins in the playoffs. Now he has picked up his play, and he can count on seeing time in the postseason.  

Just to clear up any confusion, this is not about Tyler Seguin. 

As Seguin, a phenom whose talents have been seen in spurts at a time, watched from the ninth floor at TD Garden Wednesday, his main competition for a spot in the lineup went out and continued his late-season push to make Claude Julien’s decision a no-brainer.

Daniel Paille, participating in his 41st game of a season in which he’s been relegated to life as an extra forward, made up one third of what was essentially the only line that the Bruins had going for them in a 3-2 win over the Islanders (click here for the complete game recap). The contest marked Shawn Thornton’s return to the lineup, making it the first time Thornton, Paille and Gregory Campbell played on the energy/Merlot/anything-but-fourth line together. 

Thornton scored his 10th goal of the season, reaching double digits for the first time in his career. Campbell added his 13th of the season and the Bruins’ first 4-on-4 goal all year. Paille, who picked up the primary assist on Thornton’s goal, had a couple of solid chances on the night and came through with a big blocked shot late in the game.

It was a night in which the entire line was dominant, and though two goals generally can’t be expected of it each night, people can’t be ultimately surprised when they see Thornton or Campbell’s hard work pay off. It’s been the recent play of Paille that could potentially give the energy line something it hasn’t had since Brad Marchand left it mid-season for Patrice Bergeron’s line.

“He’s been playing unbelievable the last little bit,” Thornton said of Paille. “You know what? All year, for the amount of times that he’s been in and out of the lineup, I think for the most part he’s done a really good job staying positive. You can tell that he’s starting to get more confident with the puck. He’s hanging on to it and he’s making plays. 

“We’ve always known that he’s had that ability. I saw it last year playing with him, the scoring chances that he creates with his speed and strength on the puck He’s a good player and I’m happy to finally see him getting his due. He’s worked for it all year.”

Paille has been scratched for 35 games this season, and missed four when he was suspended in February for a blindside hit to the head of Stars forward Raymond Sawada. Though he played in at least 73 games in each of the last three seasons, Paille often found himself sitting out games at a time this season. 

The campaign began in ugly fashion for the 26-year-old. A turnover-heavy performance in the season opener in Prague relegated him to the press box in favor of youngster Jordan Caron. Since then, as other players have come and gone via trade, injury or call-ups, Paille has had to take his opportunities as they’ve come, and only hope that he gives enough to stick in the lineup. 

“I knew when I got back in, I didn’t have, I didn’t need much. I just needed a little bit to get out there and Claude put me out there and since I’ve been back, so I try to make the best of it every time," Paille said after Wednesday's game. "So far it’s been going very well and obviously you want to keep that going.”

Paille has just five goals of the season, but three of them have come over his last seven games, a span in which he’s totaled five points. He had goals in back-to-back contests when he scored on both Saturday and Monday, and it took some big saves from Rick DiPietro to stop him Wednesday. 

“I think people haven’t talked much about him this year because he’s been in and out of our lineup and has had a trying year, but he’s getting a lot of attention now because of his play,” Julien said of Paille. “And I think No. 1 is we always thought when we got him, how good of a skater he was, and how he could help our forecheck and how he could do well on the penalty kill and what he could bring in regards to that. He’s created a lot of scoring chances in the past by just doing those simple things. Dan’s starting to do that with more confidence every game, and that’s what’s making him a good player again.”

Julien said after the game that he would have liked to have all four lines going like the Campbell line was Wednesday. On a night in which the top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton combined for a grand total of one shot on goal, Campbell’s line proved that it is capable of beating on 72-point team on their own. Naturally, if the Bruins try to rely upon one line next week, they can kiss their shot at prolonged postseason success goodbye. It’s when the B’s do have the Krejci, Bergeron, and Chris Kelly lines going that the Paille-Campbell-Thornton line can really wear other teams down when needed. 

“Just the commitment from those guys, that’s probably one of the positive things that really came out of tonight, is if you can get that kind of effort and production from that fourth line, imagine if the other lines are going how good we can be,” Julien said. “So hopefully the other guys jump on board here and give us what they can. With the fourth line playing like they did tonight, it just makes us that much better.”

A few weeks ago, Paille probably could have began picking out his suits for the press box in the playoffs, but his output — both statistically and otherwise — have shown that the most recent opportunity he was given has been enough for him to claim his spot. 

“My main focus was more not ruining their momentum because we’ve been tremendous all year round,” Paille said of how he’s viewed each opportunity. “And to put me out there, I just wanted to help them or improve them. Hopefully I’m doing both.”