Ducks waiting for Carl Hagelin, Jakob Silfverberg to get going

Carl Hagelin waited and waited for his name to be called or his shoulder tapped … but it never happened.

Already demoted to the fourth line, Hagelin spent the entire third period planted on the bench last Friday. He couldn’t remember that happening in his career. Ever.

“Of course it stings, but I did it to myself,” Hagelin said.

It was a snapshot of the Ducks, who are still waiting for Hagelin and their other big cogs to fulfill minimal expectations. Hagelin has one goal in 17 games and fellow Swedish winger Jakob Silfverberg is without a goal going into a four-game trip that begins Monday at Carolina.

It has been a twofold disappointment for Hagelin, a two-time 17-goal scorer also known as an excellent defender and penalty killer. He played a career-low 5:07 Friday, including eight seconds short-handed.

That’s not how Coach Bruce Boudreau envisioned using him when the Ducks signed Hagelin to a four-year, $16-million contract in the summer, but that’s the low point both have reached.

“It’s nothing he can do or can tell me,” Hagelin said. “It’s a matter of me figuring it out.”

Hagelin has an analytical approach to the game, and he knows the old adage is that offense comes from defense, so he’s trying to complete the first part of that equation.

“I haven’t been productive, and more importantly, I haven’t been good enough defensively,” Hagelin said. “Too many minuses, and that’s not the type of player I am and not the type of player I’m trying to be. I’ve just got to figure it out, be stronger on the puck, harder on the puck, harder to play against, do what I can on the ice.”

While this is new ground for Hagelin, it’s a rerun for Silfverberg, who went scoreless in his first 16 games last season. He leads the Ducks with 42 shots, but it’s quantity over quality.

Unlike Hagelin, Silfverberg doesn’t look at numbers closely and goes by instinct.

He plays a big defensive role on what has been the Ducks’ shutdown line with Ryan Kesler. As far as offense, he admits his confidence can fade. He sometimes talks to his father, Jan-Erik, who wakes up at 4 a.m. in Sweden to watch his son play.

“At times like this he just tells me to keep pushing,” Silfverberg said. “[He says] it’s going to happen. Just bring confidence in. But at the same time, he knows it’s different now. But he’s watched a lot of games. He has a feeling [and] it’s mostly positive.”

That positive vibe has been elusive in the Ducks’ dressing room, right down to captain Ryan Getzlaf, whose 13-game streak without a goal is the longest to start a season in his 11-year career.

Boudreau acknowledged that the Ducks take their cue from Getzlaf. When he gets going, so will the Ducks.

“He’s a very prideful man,” Boudreau said. “He knows that the team counts on him. When he doesn’t come through, it affects him.”

Getzlaf missed three games with an appendectomy but made it clear that’s not an excuse. He usually responds well to bad spells, but he said it’s been particularly difficult with such a poor start to the season.

“I’ve got to find a way to get back to playing with that passion, that excitement, that drive to score those goals to be in those big moments,” Getzlaf said. “I’m not saying that that will come [right away], but I’m saying I’ve got to make it happen. But I’ve been in this situation before and I know what I have to do.”

DUCKS NEXT UP

AT CAROLINA

When: Monday, 4 p.m. PST.

On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830

Update: Ducks goalie Anton Khudobin played for Carolina the past two seasons and would play his former team for the first time if he gets a second straight start. Ducks left wing Nick Ritchie could make his NHL debut. Hurricanes defenseman James Wisniewski, acquired for Khudobin, had knee surgery last month and is out for six months. The Ducks recalled defenseman Korbinian Holzer. Colorado claimed forward Chris Wagner off waivers. The Ducks had put Wagner, a fourth-line center, on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to their minor league team.

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