Struggling faceoff a sore spot
The Blue Jackets didn’t just fail to score on their power play Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They also didn’t manage to win a faceoff while having a man advantage three times.
That’s not all that surprising considering the Blue Jackets have won 43.3 percent of those jousts for the puck through the first seven games, worst in the NHL.
“We’re not a team that should be dead last in the league in faceoffs,” captain Nick Foligno said. “But I do like that we’re tenacious to get (the puck) back. It hasn’t cost us right now, but down the road it could so we have to shore that up for sure.”
Foligno and fellow center Alexander Wennberg attributed some of the team’s struggles to the NHL’s new crackdown on faceoff procedures this season. Foligno said referees and linesmen aren’t consistent in their enforcement of rules, causing uncertainty among players.
“It’s so different right now with new rules where you can get kicked out, and you try to adjust to that,” added Wennberg, who lost nine of his 14 faceoffs Thursday. “You have to try to get in there and dig in on faceoffs. Obviously that’s not something I’ve been really good at. I have to improve.”
Coach John Tortorella said he’s “not a big analytics guy” but said faceoffs are important, particularly on power plays because “you get an advantage with a faceoff in the end zone.
“We did nothing with that advantage. That was part of the issue.”
Rookie struggles
Rookie wing Sonny Milano scored in each of his first three NHL games, notching four goals with a plus-2 rating. In the past four games, he doesn’t have a point and is minus-3.
“It’s dipped, but it’s expected,” Tortorella said of Milano’s performance level. “Some nights it’s going to be awful. Some nights it’s going to be terrific. That’s what it is with a young player. But with a guy with skill like that, we have to spend some time and teach the game.”
Slap shots
If the Blue Jackets are to end their powerplay drought Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, they’ll have to do it against the NHL’s best penalty kill. While the Blue Jackets have just one power-play goal in 19 opportunities so far, the Kings’ penalty kill has allowed just one on 24 chances (95.8 percent success). … Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to make his second straight start in goal. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets likely will face a hot goalie for the second consecutive game. After suffering their first shutout loss since Feb. 28 on Thursday vs. the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, they will try to solve the Kings’ Jonathan Quick, who ranks second in the NHL with a 9.50 save percentage and third in goals-against average (1.59) among goalies who’ve faced at least 100 shots.