A stunning collapse leaves the Jets facing playoff elimination. Head coach Scott Arniel accepts full blame for the team's uncharacteristic lack of readiness.
Mathematical anomalies may say otherwise, but the Winnipeg Jets backed themselves into a corner on Saturday night and essentially saw their playoff window come to a close.
Thanks to a 7-1 drubbing from the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, Winnipeg has fallen five points out of the playoff picture with just three games left to play.
“We weren’t ready to go," Jets head coach Scott Arniel said candidly following the Jets' lopsided defeat.
Photo by Danny Truong"That whole first period we weren’t ready to go. Philly outplayed us. I’ll take responsibility for that. We were not ready to go throughout our lineup. Player 1 to 20 we were not ready to go. They got the better of us. Second period, 3-1 game, we got better, a little bit more, had some opportunities, and then again gave up a couple quick goals and the game was over after 5-1.”
In order to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring, the Jets will need three wins in their final three games, while seeing Los Angeles lose each of its final three games in regulation and Nashville only collecting one point in its final two contests.
Los Angeles has now won four-straight games and faces the 27th, 32nd and 30th placed teams before season's end.
"That one was ugly," Arniel added. "Obviously, we've lost some games and maybe we've had spurts of a period or stretches of 10 minutes here or there, in different games and we've lost games. But tonight, that was a 60 minute one. Especially the start, that was not us. That's not something we've done. We've taken such pride in really trying to get ourselves into this playoff spot and we've been pushing and I've been pushing the guys and they've been pushing each other. And like I said, that one, that came out of left field. I was not expecting that one and I don't imagine the players were either."
The lopsided score was certainly a shock to a team that has been playing some of its best hockey as of late, with the pressures of a postseason spot hanging in the balance.
Sure, the Jets have been good (7-2-1 prior to Saturday's loss) but despite the strong push, the Kings, Predators, Sharks and Blues have also seen consistency in the win column in March, making things considerably more difficult for Winnipeg.
Was Saturday's game just a culmination of a lengthy stretch of high-level play?
Certainly not, says Arniel.
“If the intensity caught you or if it’s too much pressure, then you’re in the wrong business. That’s what this is. This time of the year, and the second half, this is what you play the game for, when you get put into these situations. We’ve handled them extremely well, until today. It just imploded. Like I said, we’ll do our homework, talk about it and review it, and then we’ve got to get ourselves to move onto the next one. We’ve got to do everything we can to beat Vegas next.”
Did he address the team prior to puck drop after seeing the Kings beat the Oilers on Saturday afternoon? Also no, he says.
“I’m not blaming it on that. We have to take care of our business first and foremost. And we didn’t. There’s lots of times where we’re not playing and there will be an out of town score that goes the wrong way and we still have to play the next night. To me, we have to take care of our business.”
Now, the only business left to do is win three-straight games and hope two of the hottest teams out there lose five combined games.
Business? A gamble? Call it what you wish, but either way, the Jets are nearly out of luck.