By ROY CUMMINGS of The Tampa Tribune 

Andrei Nazarov thought he was through fighting with the Flyers when the Lightning's game against them ended Wednesday night. He found out differently later that evening. 

As the Tampa Bay winger and his girlfriend walked to their car in the Ice Palace parking lot shortly after the game, Nazarov was confronted by a band of Flyers players, including Eric Lindros, who apparently threatened him, according to Nazarov and Lightning General Manager Phil Esposito. 

``There were six of them and I thought they might try to jump me,'' Nazarov said. ``They could have. It would have been one against six. I told them to save it for the ice. If you want me, come and get me on the ice.'' 

Esposito notified the NHL of the matter Thursday, and a league spokesman said it is being investigated by its security department. 

Lindros said, however, there's nothing to investigate. 

``Nothing happened,'' Lindros said just prior to the Flyers' game Thursday night at Miami. ``[But] what [Nazarov] did was gutless.'' 

Lindros was referring to what the Flyers are calling a ``sucker punch'' Nazarov reportedly delivered to the eye of Philadelphia's Daniel LaCroix during the third period of Philadelphia's 6-1 victory. That punch sparked a melee in which LaCroix was beaten bloody by Tampa Bay's Darcy Tucker. 

Flyers General Manager Bob Clarke said the league has asked to speak to him about the off-ice matter, which he confirmed and seemed to condone. 

``Apparently, our guys were standing around the bus when the Russian [Nazarov] came out, and Eric went over to him,'' Clarke said. ``If he did it, I think it's great.'' 

Clarke indicated that the league may not take any action against his team. 

``They said it's not a big deal, there's nothing they can do,'' he said. 

Said Esposito: ``It's a dangerous situation and the league's got to do something about it.'' 

Esposito said in order to prevent further such incidents, he will ask Ice Palace officials to change the route visiting teams take to their dressing room. He said he also will ask that the corridor between the two dressing rooms be closed off when both teams are in the building. 

``We just can't have that,'' Esposito said. ``I mean, Andrei's girlfriend was in the car crying. She was scared to death. That's just not right.''