When Will Lightning Strike?

Terry Crisp the only coach the Tampa Bay Lightning have ever had received a vote of no-confidence from his employers as they gathered in Boston on Thursday amid reports that he would be fired.

“You don’t need a rocket scientist to know we’ve got a problem,” CEO Steve Oto told the Tampa Tribune in stories published Thursday: “Terry Crisp has a proven record in the past, but I reserve the right to make a change.”

Oto was at the FleetCenter for Thursday night’s 2-2 tie against the Bruins - the first time he has joined the team for a road game this season, a team spokesman said. General manager Phil Esposito was also in attendance.

Crisp’ five full years make him the longest-tenured coach in the NHL.

Esposito said he had no plans to fire Crisp. The paper said that the GM did try to fire his coach in 1995-96 after a 4-10-4 slide, but was turned down by Oto.

Now, Crisp appears to have lost Oto’s backing.

Crisp coached the Calgary Flames for three years, winning the Stanley Cup in 1989. He joined the expansion Lightning for the 1992-93 season, and has a 142-203-45 record in Tampa Bay. He is 286-266-77 overall.

Jones released from hospital

Janet Jones, wife of Wayne Gretzky, was released from a New York hospital after being treated for injuries caused by rinkside glass that fell on her head while she was watching her husband play Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Andreychuk ailing

New Jersey Devils left wing Dave Andreychuk still is bothered by a left ankle injury suffered during last Saturday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and will be out indefinitely.

“It’s still swollen,” said Andreychuk, who hopes to return for this Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. “If I could get my skate on, I would skate.”

On the ice

Petr Sykora scored his second goal of the game on a disputed power play with 16.9 seconds left in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

The goal came less than a minute after linesman Pat Dapuzzo gave the Devils their sixth power play of the game by finding six Canadiens skaters on the ice, a call vigorously disputed by Montreal.

Steve Duchesne continued an early-season streak with two assists to tie for the NHL lead as the St. Louis Blues won their sixth in a row at home with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

John LeClair’s goal with 1:53 left to play lifted the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Calgary Flames.