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My one issue with Jame's arguments here is his interchangeable use of "shutdown pair" and "top pair." To me, a top pair is the first option in both key offensive and defensive situations (Sieds-Chara, Suter-Weber, Coli-Pietro, etc) and a shutdown pair is obviously more limited to important defensive matchups (Hamhuis-Bieksa, Allen-Gleason, Alzner-Carlson).
That being said, with how Ruff coaches, the shutdown pairing is the most important pairing because Lindy doesn't really use a checking line (Gaustad in his own zone before the trade, Pominville strength on strength otherwise) and Sekera's success as a shutdown defenseman allowed Myers and Ehrhoff to play more focused offensive roles (Myers getting back on track/being dominant against the weakest competition of his career).
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