The Washington Capitals hosted the Winnipeg Jets in a battle of the best teams of the 2024-25 regular season. The 2025-26 campaign has not been as easy for either Washington or Winnipeg early on, as both 2024-25 division winners are stuck in the middle and looking up in their respective divisions at the American Thanksgiving holiday.
Wednesday night’s tilt at Capital One Arena was a feisty, tight-checking affair in the District of Columbia. Alex Ovechkin’s 908th career regular-season goal highlighted the Capitals’ 4-3 win, which stood as the game-winning goal until a late push by Winnipeg cut Washington’s lead to one goal. Logan Thompson stood tall to secure the victory despite some heavy-duty action in front of his net as the time expired on Wednesday night.
Game Recap
Washington’s defensemen have been on quite a scoring streak, including four goals in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this week. The Capitals’ blueliners continued their hot hand with the opening two goals of the game in the first period. John Carlson scored the initial goal of the contest at 6:38 of the opening period for a 1-0 Washington lead. Jakob Chychrun‘s wrist shot went bar down over the shoulder of Eric Comrie and into the net to double the Capitals’ advantage to 2-0. Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi scored with under 30 seconds left in the first period to get the Jets on the board at 2-1.
The Jets took advantage of an early power-play opportunity to tie the game, 2-2, less than 90 seconds into the second period on Vilardi’s second goal of the game. Ovechkin scored a spinning, seeing-eye wrist shot through a screen to restore Washington’s lead in the second period at 3-2. It was the 576th career even-strength goal of the 40-year-old’s career, which places second behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 617 career even-strength goals.
Connor McMichael scored at 5:25 of the third period to extend Washington’s lead to 4-2. The Capitals cruised through much of the final frame, but Mark Scheifele slipped a puck behind Thompson under five minutes to play for a one-goal game. There was a bunch of pushing, shoving, slashing, and whacking between the two clubs over the remaining four-plus minutes of game action, but Washington’s defense was able to protect the slim advantage to secure its fifth win in the last six games.
Up Next
Washington will stay home in America’s capital, waiting for the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 5 p.m. matchup at Capital One Arena on Friday night. Winnipeg travels a few hours south down Interstate 95 before arriving in Raleigh, North Carolina, for its next matchup at the Lenovo Center on Friday night. The Jets and the Carolina Hurricanes drop the puck at 5 p.m. on Black Friday.
