Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle questions work ethic after 4-0 loss to Blue Jackets

Head on a swivel was the appropriate phrase.

For most of the opening period, the Ducks were caught watching the puck, looking for their defensive assignment and then looking at each other to figure out what went wrong. By the time they looked up, four goals had gone into their net.

All fans at Honda Center were left with were Ryan Getzlaf bobbleheads nodding in their laps following a 4-0 loss Friday to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The four-goal barrage by Columbus in the first period was a swift reversal of the Ducks’ 6-1 win in their previous game, in which they blitzed Nashville for six goals to start.

“That’s what makes it most difficult to swallow because the guys played so well the last game,” said Getzlaf, who returned from an upper-body injury. “I thought tonight we came out flat. The energy wasn’t there. We weren’t skating. We weren’t doing the things that we like to do, and it showed.”

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle cited a lack of work ethic, not just in the first period but the whole game. Anaheim never recovered and didn’t put together any sustained attacks the rest of the way.

“We got outworked in all three zones,” Carlyle said. “We got outplayed by a hungrier hockey club tonight, and we were nowhere near NHL-caliber playing in our performance tonight.

“They wanted it more than we did tonight and you can’t defend that effort.”

Columbus played Thursday night in San Jose but had the early jump in a first period full of lapses and sloppy play by Anaheim. Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky held the fort for the second straight night while teammates Sam Gagner and Brandon Saad collected two goals apiece in the opening 15 minutes.

Saad scored highlight goals within four minutes. He skated into open space in the high slot and beat Ducks goalie John Gibson, his teammate for North America in the World Cup of Hockey, with a wrist shot to the upper right corner.

Saad broke free again when he collected the puck at his feet and tapped in his own rebound out of midair after the Ducks’ top line couldn’t get back to defend. Gagner got both of his goals in front of the net, the last on the power play to give the Blue Jackets a 4-0 lead.

Rakell not ready

Ducks forward Rickard Rakell participated in the morning line rushes but his season debut will wait until next week. He has skated for several days since he re-signed but Carlyle said it’s been difficult to get him practice time because of the condensed schedule and a mandatory day off.

“He’s going to be the one that’s going to have to tell us,” Carlyle said. “We can only do so much. Hopefully he’s being put through the proper paces.”

Boll plays Columbus

The emotion showed in Jared Boll’s smile before he was about to play the only NHL team he had known for the first nine years of his career. Boll naturally had some nerves playing Columbus for the first time since he signed with Anaheim in July. But he was excited for it.

“It’s always fun playing against people you know and competing against those guys,” Boll said before the game.

Boll spent the first 518 games of his career with Columbus, the fourth-most in franchise history. He endeared himself to the fan base with his fists — he’s the all-time Columbus leader in penalty minutes — and still summers in the area.

Boll hadn’t yet caught up with his former teammates but did get reacquainted with the local media.

“It’s fun to see familiar faces,” he said.

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