“Not in my mind,” Arniel said. “I’ve been in this game a long, long time, and that’s beyond my control. My job is to get these players ready to go, and I’ve just got to keep doing my job. I’m telling them to keep doing their jobs.
“It’s all of us finding a way to be better when we go into Montreal.”
The Jets (4-8-3) are 0-7-2 during the slide. Starting goalie Stuart Skinner was pulled at 9:09 of the second period Sunday after allowing five goals on 17 shots. Clay Stevenson made 13 saves in relief.
Four of the goals allowed were scored in a span of 7:14 in the second.
“It’s pretty frustrating, pretty embarrassing as an organization,” Arniel said. “Just that second period, where we create the mistakes that we did that end up in the back of our net, is leaving our goalies out to dry. Whether that’s a stick battle, whether that’s a turnover, whether that’s knocking your own goalie over, those are things we need to do better.
“I’ve got to keep hammering home that you’ve got to defend first and foremost, you’ve got to compete first and foremost, then you have to execute first and foremost. If it doesn’t happen, we’ll get the results that happen tonight.”
It was the first time Winnipeg was shut out this season. It mustered only three shots on goal in the first period and allowed a short-handed goal to Carolina defenseman Sean Walker.
“I think if (the streak) goes on, there’s going to be changes for sure,” Jets captain Adam Lowry said. “If you don’t start winning, you’ve got to find answers somewhere. … I think as players, our job is to go out and execute the game plan, but we’ve got to execute.
“You can be given the details, you can be given the things, but if you’re not going out there and you’re not putting passes on the tape, you’re not doing the things you need to do to be successful, it doesn’t matter what game plan you’re given. It’s hard to be successful. … There’s been spurts where we’ve liked what our guys looks like, but you can’t play 15, 20 minutes in this league. Teams are too good. You’ve got to put together a full 60 minutes or as close to it as you can to give yourself a chance to win. We haven’t been doing that.
Winnipeg concludes a four-game road trip at the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, TSN3).
But will Arniel be behind its bench?
“That’s your decision to make on that call,” he said. “I’m doing everything I possibly can with my coaching staff to hopefully get these guys ready to go. Once the puck drops, once it’s on the other side of the ice there or on the boards there, these guys have to also take some responsibility as well.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report
