In the absence of Ribeiro, the Preds played Mike Fisher beside James Neal and Colin Wilson (the second line from last year) and moved Forsberg up to the top line. Calle Jarnkrok dropped to the third line, beside countrymen Pontus Aberg and Viktor Arvidsson. The third line played very selective minutes, and the top two lines were more effective.
Is this lightning in a bottle, or a recipe to get back in this series?
There are few different schools of thought with this. I’m paraphrasing our readers on Twitter and in the comment section with these scorching hot takes.
“Mike Ribeiro is a veteran who has been there before. Pontus Aberg has not.”
This is true.
“Mike Ribeiro has the hockey personality of a basset hound; not good against San Jose who forces you to move.”
Also true.
“Mike Ribeiro makes a lot of things happen on the ice with Forsberg and Smith.”
Both had excellent seasons beside Ribs… yes.
“Mike Ribeiro has had a terrible postseason, and took some stupid penalties at times.”
Very accurate.
Like discussing anything regarding Mike Ribeiro, there will be a segment of the audience (which I’m part of) that wishes that he was never re-signed in Nashville due to his assault lawsuit that surfaced last year. And if you want that to be part of your reasoning for this poll, that’s fine. If not, that’s okay too… no one needs to yell at each other over that in the comments. So please be respectful on that front. There’s room for everyone that is respectful.
Having said that, the motivation for this poll is based on this playoff series.
So in your opinion, what should the Preds do with Ribeiro during the rest of this series?
Should the Predators keep Mike Ribeiro out of the lineup?
| Yes, for the rest of the series | 449 |
| Yes, until they lose or have an injury | 538 |
| No, the message has been sent | 240 |
| No, he shouldn’t have been scratched to begin with | 38 |