Lightning Defenseman Facing Suspension for Illegal Interference on JT Compher
The Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg will face a suspension for illegal interference on Detroit Red Wings' J.T. Compher.
Indeed, with some teams getting to the 50-games played mark this season, only five points separate the third from the seventh position in the Atlantic Division.
Yesterday, in a game between the division rivals Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning, we saw a lot of action and intensity, highlighting the high level of competition in their division.
Halfway through the game, an incident occurred that caused the NHL's Department of Player Safety to release an official statement this morning.
The Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg landed a hit to the head of J.T. Compher.
Even if the referees only called a minor interference penalty on the play, the NHL decided to review the incident and summoned Lilleberg to a hearing.
We don't know when the verdict will be announced yet, as the date and time of the hearing hasn't been determined yet.
Read their official statement here:
Lilleberg, 23, only took part in 82 career games in the NHL and is starting to earn quite a reputation.
This season, he already received a game misconduct for an incident that occurred earlier in January.
In a game against another one of their other division rivals, the Boston Bruins, Lilleberg was ejected from the game for landing a dirty cross-check after a fight against the Buruins' enforcer Mark Kastellic.
If you missed it, check out how it went down:
The 6-foot-3 Norwegian defenseman was drafted 107th overall in 2021 by the Arizona Coyotes.
Last summer, he signed a two-year, $800k contract with the Lightning.
An update on his suspension fate will be released soon. Stay tuned.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Gabriel Vilardi | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Cale Makar | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Vincent Trocheck | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Reilly Smith | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason Appleton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Borgen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sam Carrick | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 49 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 71 | |
Jets | 51 | 34 | 14 | 3 | 71 | |
Golden Knights | 50 | 31 | 15 | 4 | 66 | |
Oilers | 49 | 31 | 15 | 3 | 65 | |
Hurricanes | 50 | 30 | 16 | 4 | 64 | |
Stars | 49 | 31 | 17 | 1 | 63 | |
Maple Leafs | 50 | 30 | 18 | 2 | 62 | |
Wild | 50 | 29 | 17 | 4 | 62 | |
Devils | 51 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 62 | |
Panthers | 51 | 29 | 19 | 3 | 61 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||