Faceoff struggles glaring in bitter loss

Of all the NHL’s rule changes heading into the season, the tweaks made to faceoff protocols generated the least fanfare.

But on Sunday, in a 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Blue Jackets showed the new rules’ effectiveness.

“It’s all about trying to create offense,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “It created offense (Sunday) night, didn’t it? Three faceoffs, three goals.”

The Blue Jackets allowed four third-period goals to the Sharks, erasing a 3-1 lead. Three were scored within seconds of a Sharks faceoff win in the Blue Jackets’ zone.

“We had that game in reach,”

Blue Jackets center Gregory Campbell said. “That’s the little areas of the game that can obviously be really important.”

It used to be that visiting players taking faceoffs had to put their blade on the ice first, putting them at a slight disadvantage when the puck was dropped. The new rule forces teams in their defensive zones — no matter if they’re home or away — to put their stick blades down first. (When the puck is in the neutral zone, the old rules apply — visitor’s stick down first.)

“The second guy in has the momentum,” Campbell said.

The Blue Jackets’ faceoff struggles extend well beyond the defensive zone, however. With a 46.8 percent success rate, the Blue Jackets are last in the NHL on faceoffs.

Campbell was brought in as a free agent to take and win clutch faceoffs, but he’s winning only 43.8 percent of them. He lost two of the defensive zone draws that led to goals by the Sharks.

“That’s unacceptable for my standards,” Campbell said. “A lot of my game has come around in the last couple of weeks, but the faceoffs are an area I have to keep building. It’s a responsibility I take on myself. I want to be in those situations. It’s not for a lack of effort.”

Ryan Johansen is at 48.8 percent after leading the club at 52 percent last season.

“I think Soupy (Campbell) is better at it; he has been through his career,” Tortorella said. “I was told that Joey has been a really good faceoff guy here, but it’s been a bit of a struggle for him.

“It’s a big part of the game. You could feel it creeping up on us (against the Sharks), and it bit us.”

Brandon Dubinsky (49.8 percent) has been out the past six games because of an elbow injury. Rookie William Karlsson (46.6) has had sporadic success, and second-year pro Alexander Wennberg (37.3) continues to struggle.

“We’re going to work on it (today),” Tortorella said. “A lot of it is going for ties and having people help out. That’s where we can be better. A lot of them aren’t clean wins anymore. It’s winning them off to the side, winning them as a team. It was illustrated for us (on Sunday) how important they are. It basically cost us a game.”