Although the three names were written in the "fourth line" spot on the locker room board, the Devils don't number their lines necessarily. On many nights Bastian, McLeod and Wood were playing as much as a third, or even second, line time.
"They played a big role for us," Ruff said. "Call them third (line), call them fourth, there are some nights you could call them second because they have played minutes that look like they've been a top line."
Whether you call them the third line, the fourth line, the Energy Line or the BMW Line (Bastian, McLeod, Wood), they're just happy to be called at all.
"If you told me coming into the year that I was going to play every game and be a regular I would say that was a success for me," Bastian said. "I'm happy with that. Throughout the year, I played more and got more comfortable, gained a lot of confidence."
"That was my goal for the year, to stay here all year," said McLeod, who was finally able to establish himself as a full-time NHLer in his third pro year.
And the rapport they built on the ice translated into the locker room as well.
"I thought Mikey and Bass took a huge step this year," Wood, an alternate captain on the team, said. "They're a big part of this team and the future. Just to play with them, it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs. They're great guys. I'm certainly happy they're here."
From an individual standpoint, here is a glance at the line…
NATHAN BASTIAN
\Established himself as an NHL player
\Became fixture on the penalty kill
\Led the team in hits with 136 (second among all NHL rookies, two behind Montreal's Alexander Romanov, who played 12 more games)
\Quote: "As the year went on, we got more and more comfortable. Later in the year we learned to play 16, 17 minutes a night. At the start of the year I was getting nine, 10, 11 minutes. Which is fine. I think we became more responsible and I think we handled it pretty well."