Lightning Recall Steven Santini, Place Emil Lilleberg On IR

10:30 a.m.: As alluded to earlier, the Lightning have placed Lilleberg on the team’s IR, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Lightning insider Erik Erlendsson passed along a note from head coach Jon Cooper indicating that Tampa Bay is expecting Lilleberg to miss the next few weeks and hopes for him to return before the Olympic break.

9:34 a.m.: According to a team announcement, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Steven Santini from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. The Lightning already have 23 players on their active roster, so another roster move will have to be made before tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers.

It’s the second recall of the year for Santini. He was initially recalled one month ago and stayed with the team until the first week of December. During that stretch, Santini registered one assist in seven games while averaging 12:01 of ice time per night.

At the time, Tampa Bay was dealing with multiple injuries to its defensive core, and not much has changed since then. Defenseman Erik Černák and Ryan McDonagh remain on the Lightning’s injured reserve, while captain Victor Hedman recently underwent elbow surgery and will be out until February.

As for the specific reasoning behind Santini’s recall, there’s some loose reporting that Emil Martinsen Lilleberg is dealing with a lingering injury from the Lightning’s shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday. Lilleberg missed the third period for that game, finishing with zero points in 13:30 of action.

Meanwhile, the corresponding roster move, if it’s not moving Lilleberg to the injured reserve, will likely come from demoting one of Tampa Bay’s 15 forwards on the active roster. Scott Sabourin, who was recalled less than a week ago, is the most likely candidate. The 33-year-old veteran has scored one goal and three points in six games for the Lightning this season.