Lightning’s Emil Lilleberg to miss time following injury from fight
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without one of their defensemen for the next little while, as head coach Jon Cooper told reporters that Emil Lilleberg will be out for Monday night’s game and possibly about a week longer after suffering an injury during a fight.
Lilleberg scrapped with Washington Capitals defenseman Vincent Desharnais during the showdown between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference on Saturday.
Lilleberg, a six-foot-three blueliner from Sarpsborg, Norway, is in his fourth season as an NHL contributor, and he notched an assist to go with his fight while skating 10:30 of time on ice before exiting with the injury.
The 25-year-old is coming off of a 2025-26 season that saw him post 12 points on four goals and eight assists in 50 regular season appearances while skating to a plus-15 rating on an average of 17:18 of time on ice per game. For his NHL career, Lilleberg has 37 points across 164 games played.
Lilleberg is currently playing on Tampa Bay’s second pairing alongside star veteran left-hander Victor Hedman, helping to fill out a deep unit that also features J.J. Moser, John Carlson, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak. As long as Lilleberg is sidelined, it seems likely that Charles-Edouard D’Astous will continue to draw into the Lightning lineup.
The Bolts have been playing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, so D’Astous will likely draw a regular shift. D’Astous was pressed into action due to numerous injuries on the Tampa Bay defense last season, and he impressed while handling 18:45 per appearance, putting up 29 points on 6 goals and 23 assists in his 70 games played.
The Lightning are off to a 1-1-0 start to their 2026-27 campaign following a season-opening 5-1 loss on the road against the New York Rangers and a bounceback win over the Capitals in their home opener.
The Bolts are back in action on home ice on Monday night when the Philadelphia Flyers come to Benchmark International Arena in Tampa still in search of their first victory of the year after an 0-1-2 start.
