Team tries to shake off tough loss

There was still some mess for the Ducks to clean up from Friday night’s 4-3 debacle in which they blew a three-goal lead in the third period to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Words such as “embarrassing” and “unacceptable” were thrown around in the moments after the crushing defeat. On Saturday, the Ducks held a team meeting to try to put it behind them as they focus on breaking a four-game losing streak.

“You do a lot of soul searching when you have a losing streak,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “There’s a lot of airing of opinions. You give people a chance [to talk] and then you get back to the basics.

“The reason we are here is because we’re a professional hockey club and we’ve played to a much higher level.”

Some of the blame in the aftermath landed at the feet of new acquisition Ric Jackman, whose debut was forgettable. Jackman made two turnovers that led directly to scores and was on the ice for all four Blue Jacket goals in the final 10 minutes.

Carlyle sought to shift that blame away from the defenseman to himself.

“As a coach, you’ve got to read whether a player is having a good game or a not-so-good game,” he said. “If people are struggling, we should have limited their minutes. We should have done something different in those situations.

“We know that statistic last night is not a true indication of the type of player he is. We reviewed the tape today and he was a victim of a lot of circumstances.”

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Center Todd Marchant went through a taxing 90-minute practice and reported improvement with his strained abdominal muscle. It means the forward could return for next week’s trip to Nashville and Dallas.

TODAY

vs. Detroit, 5 p.m., Ch. 56

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 28-9-6; Red Wings 25-11-5.

Record vs. Red Wings -- 1-1-0.

Update -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere, on injured reserve with a groin injury, will be honored in a pregame ceremony for reaching 25 shutouts in his career.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.

eric.stephens@latimes.com