Ducks' Ryan Carter rises in home opener

"Ryan Carter played with more desperation and was involved in the play much more than what we saw throughout training camp," Coach Randy Carlyle said.

Carter's uninspired play during the preseason was the main reason he was a healthy scratch in Thursday's season opener in San Jose, Carlyle said.

"Nobody likes not playing," Carter said. "When you get a chance to go out there and play, you've got to prove and make it hard for somebody to take you out of the lineup."

With his performance Sunday, combined with injuries to forwards Travis Moen (stiff back) and Rob Niedermayer (bruised foot), who are day-to-day, Carter played left wing during Monday's practice, on the same No. 1 line as center Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

"Coming into the league and trying to make his mark and gets to play with Getzlaf and Perry, I don't know how many more opportunities there are," Carlyle said.

As far as what it'll take for him to remain in the mix, Carter didn't hesitate to answer.

"My game is skating, and that's what I've got to do to have success," he said. "My focus [Sunday] night was just going out there and moving my feet and playing physical. . . . If I'm having a bad night, it's usually because I'm standing still. That transcends into not playing physical because I'm a step behind."

The goal was nice, but Carlyle said Carter can also do the dirty work.

"His biggest asset is his ability to skate and use his body," he said. "He's a big-body guy that can get in on the forecheck, has got a big-time wrist shot and surprises a lot of goaltenders with the velocity and the quickness of it."

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Despite an 0-2 start, Carlyle has finished the last two practices with colorful drills designed to stoke the Ducks' competitive edge and provide same lighthearted fun.

On Saturday, he placed the nets on either side of the center circle and players alternated competing in rough-and-tumble one-on-one games, using the circle as a boundary. On Monday, he divided one side of the rink from the blue line in, allowing for separate games of two-on-two.

"It's not fun losing, believe me," Carlyle said. "But the bottom line is, it's a game."

dan.arritt@latimes.com