Carlyle gives team some extra work

DUNCANVILLE, Texas -- Short of sneaking on the last flight out of Dallas after their dispiriting 3-1 loss to the Stars on Saturday night, the Ducks got themselves out of the city to get back to basics.

Sunday’s grueling hour-long practice was at a suburban ice rink well away from the grisly scene at American Airlines Center. To pay for the sins of poor execution and spotty effort, the Ducks went through drills that focused on two things: skating and competing.

Technically, it wasn’t a “bag skate” or a practice without pucks. But it was hard enough to send a message.

“The message was we weren’t good enough,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said.

The list of things wrong with Saturday’s game is long, with poor passing and a sluggish power play among the lowlights, but Carlyle directed some of his criticism to details that weren’t as noticeable.

“Start with faceoffs in the first period,” Carlyle said. “We’re a puck-possession team and we need to be attacking. And we’re not starting with the puck. The majority of games have been under 40% in the faceoff circle. Some games under 30%.”

Carlyle then worked his way down the list.

“Are we taking the first penalty or drawing the first penalty? Who’s getting the first power play or the first goal? We’ve got some concerns on those issues and it was pretty evident last night.

“The score was 3-1 and I thought that was flattering.”

After the loss, Ducks center Andy McDonald questioned the team’s focus and preparation. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere acknowledged that they aren’t the team that usually put opponents on the defensive at the start of games last season.

So far, the Ducks (4-5-1) have given up the first goal in five of their six defeats, regulation or otherwise.

“I think that it’s obvious that our starts haven’t been as good as they could have been in lots of the games,” Giguere said. “It seems that we start a little slow and once the game gets started, we’re starting to react instead of being the team that initiates.”

The Ducks’ offense has been sporadic at best. They’ve been shut out twice and held to two or fewer goals six times in their first 10 games.

With a second scoring line having no impact because of injuries to Todd Bertuzzi and the inability to replace the departed Dustin Penner, the offense has fallen on the shoulders of their top line -- Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry.

The trio has 12 goals but they didn’t do much Saturday as they went scoreless.

“I think we’ve got to be one of the top lines every night,” Getzlaf said. “We’re deeper than we’re playing. We definitely have a lot more skill out there and ability to play than we’re showing right now.”

Forward Rob Niedermayer, one of the team’s assistant captains, said the Ducks have lacked consistency.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Niedermayer said. “We can’t have it where we put together some good games and then we’ll not play well, especially against a division rival like Dallas. You can’t afford to do that.”

On Sunday, the Ducks simply sought to disassociate themselves from their Texas debacle.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com