Tampa Bay Reaches New Low

The Tampa Bay Lightning, which fired brothers Phil and Tony Esposito in a front-office shake-up last week, drew the smallest crowd in franchise history Sunday night for a 4-1 loss to Washington at the Ice Palace.

The announced crowd of 7,715 beat the previous low of 8,062 set Nov. 17, 1992, when the Lightning hosted Winnipeg at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall.

Coach Jacques Demers says that the Lightning, the worst team in the NHL last season and 0-4-1 this season, has to start winning soon.

“I don’t think we laid an egg tonight,” Demers said about Tampa Bay’s loss to the Capitals. “We were down and kept working. We created a lot of scoring chances, but didn’t put the puck into the net.”

Tampa Bay received more bad news when it was decided that right wing Stephane Richer will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle. Richer is expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks.

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Capitals left wing Chris Simon, who was suspended last week because of a disagreement with Coach Ron Wilson, returned to the team and played against the Lightning after missing one game.