Lightning’s Emil Lilleberg to miss two weeks with facial fracture

A freak injury will knock one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s young blueliners out for a little bit.

On Saturday, the team announced that defenseman Emil Lilleberg suffered a facial fracture in a practice while the team was in Minnesota on Wednesday. He’s expected to miss close to two weeks.

Lilleberg has been banged up for quite an extended period of time already this season. An undisclosed injury suffered in a game against the New York Islanders on Dec. 13 knocked the Norwegian blueliner out for over two months. Granted, he missed most of February due to the Olympic break.

Lilleberg has played in three of the Bolts’ first five games coming out of the league-wide pause, but didn’t register a point. In fact, the 25-year-old hasn’t put his name on the scoresheet since Dec. 2 against the Islanders. In the 35 games he has played in, Lilleberg has notched two goals and four assists for six points, with his last goal coming on Nov. 15 against the rival Florida Panthers. He has a plus/minus of +10 while averaging just under 17 minutes of ice time.

The 2025-26 campaign is Lilleberg’s second as a full-time NHLer. Last year, he notched a goal and 18 assists for 19 points, delivering a -1 rating while averaging 15:17 of ice time. He also picked up an assist during the team’s first-round series against the Panthers.

In 148 regular-sesaon games in the NHL, Lilleberg has posted three goals and 27 assists for 30 points.

The Lightning (38-18-4) come into Saturday’s action sitting tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the surprising Buffalo Sabres. Both teams are three points ahead of the third-place Detroit Red Wings.