Tampa Bay’s Emil Lilleberg did not practice this morning, observed by Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times. He left after 10:30 of ice time during last night’s win over Washington and seems to be dealing with an undisclosed injury.
The loss of the defenseman was actually mostly felt by his forward teammates for the remainder of the third period, as the Lightning happened to be playing with seven defensemen anyway. It’s anybody’s guess exactly what happened to the 25-year-old, although he at 6’3″ bravely took on Washington’s 6’7″ defenseman Vincent Desharnais in a fight, formally dropping the gloves after a pretty typical net-front scrum. He fared well in the bout but it’s likely the culprit. The Norway native is no stranger to the activity, racking up over 100 penalty minutes in his first full NHL campaign two years ago.
Encina updated this afternoon that Lilleberg will be further evaluated today, with a better indication of his possible status for tomorrow’s home game against the Flyers. Coming over to Tampa three years ago as a free agent out of the SHL, originally drafted 107th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2021, Lilleberg brings an edge to the bottom pairing, managing 96 hits in just 50 games last season as the lefty battled injuries.
Elsewhere across the league:
Dealing with their own shuffling on the back end, the Red Wings deployed seven defensemen in their matinee tilt versus Winnipeg, noted by Ansar Khan of Michigan Local News. Andreas Englund made his Detroit debut rotating in as an extra with just 7:15 of usage while forward Carter Mazur was scratched. At age 30 the veteran of 200 games typically has a pretty pedestrian stat sheet, with a split of 52/3 in AHL versus NHL appearances in the Predators organization last year. Despite the season spent as a Milwaukee Admiral, the Swede caught on with a one-way contract in Calgary worth $900k. Unable to make the team, he landed on waivers and was scooped up by the Red Wings. Englund’s sixth NHL club, seventh if you count the preseason stint with the Flames, teams value his status as a classic stay-at-home man who plays heavy at 6’4″ and can fight when needed. Given yesterday’s news that Simon Edvinsson reportedly wants to move on, Englund could be more than a short-term filler in Detroit. After everything the group has been through, most sympathetic NHL fans can hope the Wings rally as a group, but if they’re in for another long season he’s a serviceable seventh defenseman who can help protect their younger players.
Colorado forwards Logan O’Connor and Zachary L’Heureux were full participants in practice today, noticed by Guerilla Sports’ Jesse Montano. It’s right on track with yesterday’s update that while they were unable to play a return was coming soon. Getting back to full health, captain Gabriel Landeskog was absent this afternoon, raising a few eyebrows although Montano updated that it was just a maintenance day for the 33-year-old. Down the two bottom-six forwards the Avalanche have played seven defensemen in their first two games. It was an effective strategy for them, going 2-0 and outscoring Los Angeles and St. Louis by a combined 14-5, none of which were misleading empty-netters. Since they don’t play for another three days, off to Winnipeg for Wednesday night action, it’s safe to assume that both O’Connor and L’Heureux will be in the lineup while extra defenseman Noah Juulsen will sit. The off-season addition is scoreless so far, his 10:55 last night being the least usage among the seven blue-liners.