Predators captain Weber not traveling to Chicago

Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber will not travel to Chicago and will miss Games 3 and 4 of their Western Conference First Round series against the Chicago Blackhawks because of a lower-body injury, it was announced Saturday.

Weber was injured at 9:20 of the second period on a hit by the Blackhawks' Brandon Saad behind the Predators net. Weber appeared unable to put weight on his right leg as he left the ice.

He had one assist and was a plus-1 in 13:25 of ice time in the Predators' 6-2 victory that evened the best-of-7 series 1-1.

"Everybody gets injuries, and you have to deal with them," coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday, according to the Predators. "You have to deal with them in the regular season. [Friday] I think was a real good sign that some guys did elevate their minutes and played in different situations, tried to fill [Weber's] role, and we were able to find success doing that."

Weber was second among Nashville defensemen in the regular season with an average ice time of 26:22 per game, and with 45 points. He played 38:13 in Nashville's 4-3 double-overtime loss in Game 1.

Seth Jones, who played 21:52 in Game 2, is a candidate to replace Weber on the top defensive pairing with Roman Josi for Game 3 at United Center on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, TVA Sports, SN).

"We're working through that internally right now, seeing where our guys are at," Laviolette said. "Certainly Seth took down a lot of minutes. It puts him in an elevated role on our team whether we roll six [defensemen] consistently or push five. I guess we'll get a feel for the game."

Weber missed three games during the regular season in March and April because of a lower-body injury.

"Well certainly just from a starting standpoint, somebody will come into the lineup, whether it'll be [Anton Volchenkov] or [Victor Bartley]," Laviolette said.

"They're both capable. They both gave good minutes through the course of the year. It elevates people into a power-play role. It elevates people into a penalty kill role and certainly will elevate minutes of our defensemen. I think everybody gets affected a little bit. I don't think one person can jump in and do what Shea does, but I think by committee you usually try to handle stuff like that."

Forward Mike Fisher sustained a lower-body injury that forced him out of Game 1; he did not play in Game 2 but will travel with the team and is listed as day-to-day.

"I thought we responded pretty good to Mike coming out of the lineup and certainly responded when Shea went down in the game," Laviolette said. "I thought our guys continued to press and play hard. I think those things happen. I think it happens throughout the course of the playoffs."