The Tampa Bay Lightning, in response to the injury statuses of it’s #1 center and a pair of its defensemen, has made a pair of recalls from the Syracuse Crunch.
Tampa Bay has recalled forward J.T. Brown, who was a late cut from the training camp roster. Brown had been playing on the top line with the Crunch (paired with Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov), notching 4 goals and 6 assists in 13 games this season. Brown made his NHL debut upon his signing during the 2011-12 season, he skated with the Lightning for five games, recording a single assist during that stint.
On defense, the Lightning called up Dmitry Korobov. Korobov, 24, made his North American debut last season with the Crunch, playing in 65 games and recording 3 goals and 19 assists. He has 6 assists in 13 games so far this season. He had also been a late cut from the Lightning preseason roster. If he happens to get into a game, he will be making his NHL debut.
As it stands right now, both call-ups should be looked at as if they are being made for insurance purposes alone. Tampa Bay has 12 healthy forwards and 6 healthy defensemen before the recalls. How Brown will fit into the lineup is not clear at this moment but he could find playing time on the second line if Alex Killorn is shifted from wing to center (which is being repeated as the likely scenario). Killorn was a center during his time in college with the Harvard Crimson.
