Weber, Irwin provide support
They are the third pairing on the Nashville defense.
It would be understandable, though, if they feel more like the fifth wheel. On a unicycle. That’s because Nashville has a defense corps whose top four members are widely regarded as the finest group in the NHL.
It also has Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber.
Oh, they’re perfectly capable defensemen, certainly worthy of working at this level.
It’s just that they don’t fare particularly well when compared to Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm.
Which explains why, in the Penguins’ 5-3 victory Monday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, the ice time among the Predators’ top four ranged from 22 minutes, 57 seconds for Subban to 28:22 for Josi, while Weber logged only 7:40 and Irwin 9:04.
Those two were on the ice for Conor Sheary’s first-period goal, and Irwin was out there when Frederick Gaudreau scored for Nashville in the third period. Each was credited with one hit, and Irwin recorded a team-high three blocked shots.
A solid, but not spectacular, performance. Precisely what the Predators count on from those two.
“You know what’s expected of you,” Irwin said. “You know those four guys do some heavy lifting for us. They’re fantastic hockey players.
“For [Weber] and me, it’s a matter of just giving hard, solid minutes whenever we’re called upon.”
Most of the time, they get those minutes against bottom-six forwards, because coach Peter Laviolette likes to deploy his top two pairings against opponents’ most dangerous forwards.
“Our top four definitely have most of the workload, and play against [opponents’] first and second lines,” Weber said. “We face a lot of third and fourth lines, which isn’t easy at times when you look at teams like St. Louis or Anaheim. They’re really heavy, loaded on the third and fourth lines.”
True enough, although it should be noted that Penguins coach Mike Sullivan tried several times to get Sidney Crosby’s line on the ice when Irwin and Weber were out there in the opener.
That figures to be the case again in Game 2 Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Laviolette seemed to anticipate that before the series began, and made it clear he wouldn’t fret if his No. 3 pairing had to go against Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
“At times, you’d like to get a matchup or you’d like to get your top four out there against a Crosby or a Malkin,” he said, “but we have a lot of confidence [in Weber and Irwin] if that doesn’t happen.”
Weber has enough offensive ability that he could fill in on the power play occasionally, if needed. Irwin has focused on his defensive game this season, which might be why they’ve meshed nicely.
“We’ve jelled very well since we started playing together,” Irwin said. “[Weber] and I just do our best to keep the game simple, be hard to play against defensively and if we can contribute offensively, we’ll do that.”
Irwin has two assists in 17 games in these playoffs, while Weber has one.
Then again, the Predators don’t keep them around because of the prolific offensive output; they’re paid to give the top-four defenseman an occasional breather, and they’ve handled those duties effectively.
“These guys can do the job,” Laviolette said. “They’ve done it all year.”
Just keep rolling along. Like a good fifth wheel should.