Case for and against Mike Ribeiro in Predators' lineup

Going into Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Sharks, Predators coach Peter Laviolette chose to take some chances.

Despite the fact his team had outplayed the Sharks for much of Game 2, he shook up his lineup trailing two games to none. Not only did he remove veteran center Mike Ribeiro and replace him with a rookie who’d never played an NHL game — Pontus Aberg — but Laviolette shuffled personnel on three of his four lines.

The bottom line was a 4-1 victory that saw Nashville trim San Jose’s lead in the series to 2-1.

“It was a little bit tricky, knowing we generated a lot of chances in Game 2 and that we thought we did some good things offensively,” Laviolette said. “But I think we looked more at the body of work and just not getting the production we were looking for.

“I just thought that changing the lines and giving different looks might hit the reset button for some players — get some of those players on the board and contributing offensively.”

Predators vs. Sharks, Game 4: 3 things to watch

The question now for Laviolette: Does he stick with the same lineup in Game 4 or does he return Ribeiro to the lineup and go with a more traditional look?

Here are some reasons on both sides:

Go back to Ribeiro

He’s learned his lesson. The 36-year-old Ribeiro clearly struggled through the first nine playoff games, producing just one assist and winning only 35 percent of his faceoffs.

But there’s nothing like not putting the uniform on for a game to wake up a player, especially a 16-year veteran like Ribeiro. The healthy scratch on Tuesday will not only give him some added rest, but will recharge his competitive fire and return him to regular-season form when he produced 50 points (sixth-highest on the team) in 81 games.

Don’t push your luck. Aberg did all right for himself against the Sharks in Game 3, getting 8:27 of ice time and delivering a couple of hits. But if you play him again, aren’t you risking a critical rookie breakdown from the 2012 second-round pick?

Wouldn’t it be a safer bet to go back to Ribeiro, who has averaged better than half a point per playoff contest (33 points in 64 games) during his career?

And even though the Predators scored four goals on Tuesday, are they likely to continue on that pace without a second offensive-minded center like Ribeiro? He was third on the team with 43 assists during the regular season, compared to just 10 for Mike Fisher, who was in the second-team center role on Tuesday.

Keep Ribeiro out

He hasn’t earned a return. Sure, Ribeiro can point to his experience and his track record, but he can’t make much of a case for what he’s done this postseason. His point-production problems have also hampered the power play, which was 2-for-33 with him in the lineup, 2-for-5 with him out of the lineup on Tuesday.

Ribeiro’s stats have fallen off in other categories as well during the postseason. His Corsi number (which measures how well a team controls the puck while a certain player is on the ice) was about 58 percent during the regular season, but has taken a big drop to 46.9 percent during the playoffs.

His faceoff success rate was poor during the regular season at 38 percent, but has dipped to 35 percent in the playoffs. Without Ribeiro in the lineup, the Predators won 35 draws and lost 26 on Tuesday.

Joe Rexrode: Predators end frustration, start series

If it ain’t broke … Generally speaking, NHL coaches will stick with a winning lineup, especially if the coach thinks the wins were well-deserved.

The top three lines Laviolette used on Tuesday (Colin Wilson- Fisher-James Neal, Filip Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-Craig Smith, Aberg-Calle Jarnkrok-Viktor Arvidsson) hadn’t played much at all together before Tuesday, but the units appeared to gel quickly and helped the Predators control the majority of play.

The four goals matched the Predators' combined total of the first two games, and Nashville’s two power-play goals matched the combined total for the team in the playoffs. If Laviolette made significant changes to a lineup after a good, winning performance — and then lost Game 4 — he’d surely be second-guessing himself.

Reach John Glennon at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @glennonsports.