‘It’s a grind right now, and every point matters’

NEWARK, N.J. — Scott Arniel was in no mood to back track, nor was the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets interested in diving into any doom-and-gloom scenarios that are being bandied about.

As Arniel met with reporters before the team departed for a four-game road trip that begins on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, he fielded several queries about his rather direct post-game commentary that lasted roughly 68 seconds after Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Coles Notes version was that the Jets weren’t good enough and that was apparent in both the tone of the delivery and the look of disappointment on his face when he stood at the podium on Saturday.

“The stuff we did against other teams, that nose-to-nose compete, execution, just the details of our game was the opposite. It was like we were looking for a real easy game against Detroit, and Detroit’s one of the top teams in the East,” Arniel told reporters on Monday.

“They don’t play the same style as maybe Florida does. But, at the end of the day, that wasn’t good enough. And that was pretty much the message. The message after the game was the message this morning. They understood it.”

Arniel didn’t leave a whole lot of room for interpretation in either meeting with the media.

But when pressed about the differences in the low-event victory over the St. Louis Blues and the similar shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, Arniel was quick to find several that contributed to his high level of disappointment when comparing the effort on Saturday.

“We didn’t hit a soul. We were circling,” said Arniel. “If we had odd-man rushes or opportunities, we were taking the long way around to the net. Playing on the outside and playing on the perimeter, there (were) a lot of things. And maybe I’m more critical as I look at it. In those other games you mentioned, the Florida game we got inside, St. Louis we got there, we won our battles. And that’s a big thing for me. It’s those net-front battles.

“Really, it’s the willingness to do those hard things.”

“We didn’t hit a soul. We were circling.”

The clock isn’t about to strike midnight for the Jets, but the margin for error is razor thin.

That’s part of the reason Arniel’s asking his team to stand at attention and dig into the details. Without a determined effort, this will be a lost season and one that’s filled with regret.

“That was more the message, that we can’t take any nights off. Shifts off, nights off — we’re not in that luxury,” said Arniel, noting that he delivered the message to his players before venting during Saturday’s post-game address to the media. “We’re not sitting 20 points ahead of the next playoff team. It’s a grind right now, and every point matters.”

With 31 games left in the regular season, the Jets went into Monday’s action eight points behind the San Jose Sharks (who hold a game in hand) and they’ve got six teams to leapfrog in order to sneak into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Given the magnitude of the challenge, it was natural for Arniel to be asked if there was some added urgency attached to the five-game block leading into the Olympic break that includes a home game against the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 4.

“We’ve got to keep pushing, that’s our job, that’s our responsibility.”

But Arniel can’t worry about the macro, he’s hyper focused on the day-to-day and he’s been around long enough that he can only coach the players available to him, whether that’s before the NHL trade deadline or after.

“Yeah, that’s not my department. I’m looking at us obviously needing wins. The thing about it, (what) is so crazy, is that we play five games before the break and we won’t play again until almost March,” said Arniel, whose team meets the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 25 and will play five games coming out of the Olympic break before the arrival of the NHL trade deadline on Mar. 6.

“It’s crazy. But then March is extremely crazy, in the sense of the schedule and how many games we got to play. You know what, this isn’t over until there’s some kind of mark beside our team that says we’re out. We’ve got to keep pushing, that’s our job, that’s our responsibility.”

It’s a responsibility the Jets are taking seriously, as they realize the status quo hasn’t been good enough and, if that doesn’t change, more moves will be made.

Might Arniel’s pointed message provide some additional motivation as the road trip gets going?

“Sure,” Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck told reporters. “Honestly, I think we’re just focused on playing our game, playing Jets hockey, making sure our confidence is there, and feeling good.”

Asking Hellebuyck if he’s feeling good about his game is akin to checking if the sky is blue, so it surprised no one that he’s encouraged by his recent outings.

“Very confident with the way I’ve been playing, and I’ve been making some good tweaks,” said Hellebuyck. “And just like typical season stuff, just building the game, (to) make it stronger as the season goes along, and learning from the little mistakes.

“For the most part, I feel like I’ve seen the puck really well.”

Hellebuyck is someone who values the process, but the lack of success for both the team and himself since coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery provides some challenges to sort through.

“I think I came right back in and got my game right to where it was where I left off, and we continue to build it,” said Hellebuyck.

“… the thing with hockey, it’s a team game. We do it all together. We get out of the streak together.”

“That being said, I came in and we hit on a huge losing streak. So that’s not great for the mentals, and everyone’s going to look worse when you’re on a losing streak. But the thing with hockey, it’s a team game. We do it all together. We get out of the streak together. When we build winning streaks together, and no one man is going to steal the show. Once the team starts succeeding, then those individuals will start succeeding.”

Hellebuyck understands that his numbers have dropped considerably since winning his third Vezina Trophy and first Hart Trophy last season, but he believes that’s only part of the equation.

“I know it’s easy just to say you’ve got to stop more and then you win more games, but you know that’s not necessarily the case,” said Hellebuyck, who is 12-14-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .902 save percentage in 32 games this season.

“Sometimes, overtime kills your stats. And little moments in a game where your team ends up losing, while you give up an extra goal, comparative to the league. So, I’ve got to put the stats behind me and just make every save that I possibly can and make sure I’m not making any big mistakes and costing us games.”

D-MEN STILL DOWN:

Asked for an injury update, Arniel said it was unlikely that none of defencemen Neal Pionk (lower body), Colin Miller (knee) or Haydn Fleury (nose, back) would return to game action before the Olympic break. That’s part of the reason, blue-liner Isaak Phillips was recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. Phillips appeared in two games for the Jets last week before suiting up in a pair of games with the Moose on the weekend.

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