‘Montador and Lydman had served as a solid defensive pairing until they began to struggle in the West Coast run, with Ruff opting to keep a healthy Andrej Sekera out in favor of the tandem throughout January. Wednesday night’s game marked the first time this season that either blueliner has been benched. “It’s tough. It’s never an easy decision… We thought about taking one out, finally I made a decision to take them both out,” Ruff said. “We could have won both games, San Jose and Vancouver, with that pair playing better.”’