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Published Nov 26, 2025 • 4 minute read
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Washington Capitals forwrad Connor McMichael scores against Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie during the third period of an NHL game on Nov. 26, 2025 in Washington. Photo by Nick Wass /The Associated PressArticle content
Eric Comrie, join the club.
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Going into Wednesday’s game in Washington, the Winnipeg Jets goalie had never faced the NHL’s career leading goal-scorer, Alex Ovechkin.
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That was probably a good thing for him, as no team has felt Ovechkin’s offensive wrath more than the Jets: Of his 907 career goals before Wednesday, a whopping 57 had come in 75 games against Winnipeg.
Make that 58 in 76 – and a first against the 30-year-old Comrie.
Ovechkin’s blind, long-range wrister broke a 2-2 tie in the second period and the Capitals went on to beat the Jets, 4-3, Winnipeg’s third straight loss.
The Jets’ record falls to 12-10 on the season, 3-7 in their last 10 games.
Their mood?
“It’s not great,” Gabe Vilardi told media in Washington. “It sucks to lose. But nobody’s quitting here. We’re just going to keep showing up, keep playing. We’ve talked about it … we’ve made progression in different areas of our game. But at the end of the day it is a results-driven business and we need to start winning. And it sucks right now.”
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“There’s a lot of good things that happened out there,” head coach Scott Arniel added. “We’re in a funk right now and we’ve got to find ways. Our mistakes are going in our net but we battle right to the end.”
Washington’s winning goal came some five minutes into the third period, when Jets defenceman Elias Salomonsson, playing his first career NHL game, couldn’t handle a pass at the Washington blue line, springing Connor McMichael on a breakaway that made it 4-2.
With just under five minutes left, Mark Scheifele closed the gap with his 12th goal of the season on a rebound.
The Jets pulled Comrie with 1:40 to go and came close on a goal-mouth scramble in the dying seconds, but couldn’t bang it home.
Vilardi scored twice for Winnipeg, reaching 100 for his career, making it all three goals from the same line.
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“We’ve got to find a way to get some secondary scoring,” Arniel said. “We need other people to step up. It’s not about being pretty now. I don’t care how it goes in. Off your head, off your leg, however it might be.
“The guys that aren’t scoring, find a way to get some offence.”
The evening brought a roller-coaster of emotions for Salomonsson, starting with the thrill of the traditional pre-game solo lap, which he was determined to pull off without stepping on the puck.
“That was actually the first thing I thought of – don’t fall,” the 21-year-old said. “It was amazing. There was a lot of emotions. You just do that once.”
While his parents didn’t make it from Sweden, Salomonsson’s girlfriend was there to see it.
She would have wanted to shield her eyes when he missed the pass that produced Washington’s fourth goal.
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“It was unfortunate,” Salomonsson said. “The puck bounced a little bit or something. But take that as experience, try to put it behind you. The guys came and said, ‘Don’t worry,’ and stuff like that. So that felt good, and continued the game in the right way.”
After a lengthy, pre-game ceremony to honour Ovechkin passing 900 goals and 1,700 games, it took the Jets more than three minutes to get their first shot on Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren.
Their early sluggishness cost them.
Before the first period was half over, Washington defenceman John Carlson joined a rush and blasted a shot from the high slot past Comrie for the first goal.
It got worse when defenceman Jakob Chychrun’s wrist shot from the point found its way through traffic and past Comrie with 5:39 left in the first.
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That made it 21 goals from the blue line for Washington this season, the top mark in the NHL – and the envy of the Jets, who have 10.
“Our D have to find a way to get pucks to that net front,” Arniel said. “I think we had three shots on net from our D and that’s something that we as a group have to get better at. You can’t go into games with one line running.”
Winnipeg’s top line broke the ice with 22 seconds left in the first period, Kyle Connor taking advantage of a Carlson giveaway to set up Vilardi for his ninth of the season.
Vilardi doubled down early in the second, tipping a Josh Morrissey shot past Lindgren on a Jets power play, tying it at 2-2 and hitting the century mark for career goals.
Ovechkin’s 908th career marker was next, the Russian sniper turning to fire a long wrister from near the side boards past a surprised Comrie and restoring his team’s lead.
Final shots favoured the Caps, 34-21, as Comrie, playing his fourth straight game in place of injured star Connor Hellebuyck, saw his record fall to 1-3 in that stretch, 4-4 on the season.
The Jets play the second game of this five-game road trip in Carolina on Friday, followed by a Saturday stop in Nashville.
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia
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