Scheifele's two goals help Jets snap 11-game losing streak with 5-1 win over Kings

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored two goals, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Toews both ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts, and the Winnipeg Jets ended their 11-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

The Jets were winless (0-7-4) since a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Dec. 13. It was their longest skid since the team moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011.

Namestnikov ended a 29-game goal drought, while Toews halted a 26-game scoring slump. Cole Koepke also scored for the Jets and Gabriel Vilardi had two assists. Eric Comrie made 23 saves.

Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 of the 16 shots he faced before he was replaced by Anton Forsberg to start the third period. Forsberg made three saves.

CAPITALS 5, BLACKHAWKS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist, and Washington snapped Chicago’s four-game win streak with a win over the depleted Blackhawks.

Alex Ovechkin, Anthony Beauvillier, Ethen Frank and Justin Sourdif also scored for Washington, which had lost three of four. John Carlson and Martin Fehervary each had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 23 saves.

Connor Bedard returned for Chicago after being sidelined by a shoulder injury, but the Blackhawks were hit hard by an illness going around the locker room. Goaltenders Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom were scratched, along with forward Ilya Mikheyev and defenseman Louis Crevier.

Oliver Moore scored for Chicago, which beat Washington 3-2 in a shootout last weekend. Drew Commesso made 19 saves in his second career NHL start.

MAMMOTH 4, BLUES 2

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nick Schmaltz scored twice and assisted on another goal to lead Utah to a victory over St. Louis.

Schmaltz now has 43 points in 40 career games against St. Louis. Lawson Crouse and Sean Durzi also scored goals to help Utah win its third straight game. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves.

Oskar Sundqvist and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Blues while Joel Hofer made 19 stops. St. Louis dropped its fourth straight road game.

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele, left, scores against Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) during second-period NHL hockey game action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

David Blough is the new offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, rising from his previous job as assistant quarterbacks coach just a few years removed from being a backup QB in the league.

The Commanders announced the 30-year-old Bough's promotion on Saturday.

Blough, who never has called plays in the NFL, takes over the offense under head coach Dan Quinn and replaces former offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who agreed to part ways with the team earlier in the week after Washington finished the season with a 5-12 record.

Quinn still needs to replace fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. and offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, and now also will need to find a quarterbacks coach and assistant quarterbacks coach.

Keeping Blough in the fold as OC, rather than potentially watching him leave for the same position with the Detroit Lions or elsewhere, helps Washington give star quarterback Jayden Daniels some continuity going into his third NFL season.

Daniels, the reigning AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, dealt with a series of injuries to his left knee, right hamstring and left elbow this season before being shut down in December. He played in only seven games as the Commanders took a major step back after going 12-5 in the regular season and making it all the way to the NFC title game a year earlier.

Blough worked under QBs coach Tavita Pritchard during Daniels’ standout rookie year in 2024, then filled in this past year after Pritchard was hired by Stanford as its coach.

As a player, Blough was a quarterback at Purdue in college and then appeared in nine games in the pros — going 0-7 as a starter — with the Lions and Arizona Cardinals from 2019-22.

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FILE - Detroit Lions quarterback David Blough talks to reporters after the team's NFL preseason football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Don Wright, File)