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KARL DEBLAKER \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 Nikolaj Ehlers (27) controls the puck near Winnipeg Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the second period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.<\/p>\n
Anything.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Any thoughts that a paint-peeling closed door meeting might be on the menu after a 7-0 beatdown were quickly erased when players emerged after just a few minutes, loading their equipment bags for trainers and grabbing a slice or two of pizza waiting for them in the hallway.<\/p>\n
A few soon filtered over to the Hurricanes side to catch up with some old friends.<\/p>\n
This appears to be a group that has gotten way too comfortable with the status quo. Which, if you\u2019ve been following along since last season, involves a ton of failure and very little in the way of change.<\/p>\n
Even the way head coach Scott Arniel, captain Adam Lowry and veteran defenceman Dylan DeMelo answered post-game questions from the Free Press suggested it\u2019s just a matter of continuing to do the same things over and over again, hopefully with a different result.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that the textbook definition of insanity?<\/p>\n
Winnipeg is now 4-8-3 on the year, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers when it comes to point percentage. And that\u2019s despite the fact they started 4-1-1, only to go 0-7-2 over the past nine.<\/p>\n
The losing streak could hit double-digits on Tuesday when the road trip wraps up in Montreal. But before we get to La Belle Province, some additional thoughts on this one.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t KARL DEBLAKER \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Dawson Mercer (19) watches Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov (52) block his shot during the first period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.<\/p>\n WILL CHANGE BE IN THE AIR?<\/p>\n Is Arniel worried about his job? After all, he\u2019s a lame duck coach in the sense his current contract doesn\u2019t go beyond this one, and his group has now been outscored 23-7 over the past four games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not on my mind. I\u2019m not worrying about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in this game a long, long time. That\u2019s beyond my control. My job is to get these players ready to go. I\u2019ve got to just keep doing my job because I\u2019m telling them to keep doing their job. It\u2019s all of us finding a way to be better when we go into Montreal.\u201d<\/p>\n The obvious follow-up question was then posed: Have they stopped listening to your message? Sunday\u2019s game, which Arniel referred to as \u201cembarrassing as an organization,\u201d might suggest that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, that\u2019s your decision to make on that call,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I\u2019m doing everything I possibly can with my coaching staff to hopefully get these guys ready to go. Once the puck drops and once it\u2019s on the other side of the ice there, (over) the boards there, these guys have to also take some responsibility as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Although he wouldn\u2019t put a timeline or a number on it, Lowry conceded nobody should be feeling at ease.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it goes on, there\u2019s going to be changes for sure. If you don\u2019t start winning, you\u2019ve got to find an answer somewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t KARL DEBLAKER \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n Hurricanes\u2019 Sebastian Aho (20) tips the puck past Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner for a goal during the second period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday. Below, Sean Walker (26) skates back to the bench after celebrating his goal with teammates Sebastian Aho (20), and Seth Jarvis (24) with Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Neal Pionk (4) and Mark Scheifele (55) looking on.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys on the Moose are playing well. I think as players, our job is to go out and execute the game plan, but we\u2019ve got to execute it. You can be given the details, but if you\u2019re not going out there and winning the draw, you\u2019re not passing it on the tape, you\u2019re not doing the things you need to do to be successful. It doesn\u2019t matter what game plan you\u2019re given.\u201d<\/p>\n Added DeMelo on the subject: \u201cI think you got to worry about your job and be the best version of you you can be. That\u2019s all you can control. Start thinking about things that you can\u2019t control and you\u2019re in a tough spot. That\u2019s gonna be useless information for us.\u201d<\/p>\n ANATOMY OF A ROUT<\/p>\n We\u2019ll spare you all the grisly details of this one, but this encapsulates it perfectly. At one point in the second period, Carolina had five goals and Winnipeg had a total of five shots.<\/p>\n A 1-0 lead through 20 minutes, where the Jets played OK-ish, quickly became a rout in the middle frame.<\/p>\n All the usual suspects were to blame \u2014 defensive breakdowns, turnovers and abysmal special teams, which included going 0-for-3 on the power play, giving up a shorthanded goal and surrendering two more goals while the Jets were down a man.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a collective of a whole bunch of things,\u201d said Lowry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been different things in the streak. But (Sunday) it\u2019s a tight game after the first. And then it\u2019s the consistency we\u2019ve talked about. It\u2019s playing all three periods. It\u2019s just not there. We\u2019ve got to find it because we go into another tough test in Montreal and no one\u2019s throwing us a lifeline. Like, we\u2019ve got to find a way to get out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t KARL DEBLAKER \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Nino Niederreiter (62) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 Nicolas Deslauriers (44) during the third period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.<\/p>\n Pity starting goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was celebrating his 28th birthday on Sunday and was given a second straight mercy pull after 40 minutes. He stopped 12 of 17 shots he faced before Clay Stevenson took over in the final frame, turning aside 13 of 15 in mop-up duty.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve hung our goalies out to dry,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cJust every facet of the game hasn\u2019t been good enough for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov improved to a perfect 10-0-0 on the year with a relatively easy-peasy 26-save shutout. The reigning Stanley Cup champs have picked up right where they left off and are on top of the NHL standings with a 12-2-2 record.<\/p>\n KEY PLAY<\/p>\n Sean Walker\u2019s shorthanded goal just 5:16 into the game really set the tone. It was the 11th time in the last 13 games the Jets have given up the opening tally, and that\u2019s no way to live when you are as fragile and offensively-challenged as they are.<\/p>\n THREE STARS:<\/p>\n 1. CAR D Sean Walker: 2 goals<\/p>\n 2. CAR C Logan Stankoven: 1 goal, 2 assists<\/p>\n 3. CAR C Sebastian Aho: 1 goal, 1 assist<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t KARL DEBLAKER \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 Sean Walker (26) skates back to the bench after celebrating his goal with teammates Sebastian Aho (20), and Seth Jarvis (24) with Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Neal Pionk (4) and Mark Scheifele (55) looking on during the first period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t EXTRA, EXTRA<\/p>\n The Jets made one lineup change, as Nino Niederreiter returned to the lineup after a series of healthy scratches, replacing forward Cole Koepke who is dealing with a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n Winnipeg dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen for a second straight outing, although blue-liner Tyrel Bauer was used sparingly as a forward. That left Brad Lambert and the extra goaltender, Nico Daws, as the scratches, while defenceman Josh Morrissey and forward Vlad Namestnikov remain on the injured list.<\/p>\n Former Jets forward Nikolj Ehlers, who scored the game-winning goal when Carolina beat Winnipeg on Oct. 17 at Canada Life Centre, had two asssists in this one. As did Winnipegger Seth Jarvis, who recently returned from injury and now has seven points (1G, 6A) in six games.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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