Scheifele scores twice as Jets top Kings 5-1 to end 11-game winless skid

By Canadian Press on January 10, 2026.

WINNIPEG — Before Eric Comrie went to the rink on Friday, his wife Haley put some photos in his car to help the Winnipeg Jets backup goalie get in the right frame of mind.

It worked.

Comrie made 23 saves in a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings that ended Winnipeg’s 11-game losing streak.

“I hop in the car and I have three pictures – one of myself as a kid and one of my son wearing goalie pads and one of my daughter in the locker (room) with me,” Comrie said of the photos stuck on his driver’s side window. “And she goes, ‘This is why you play the game.” It was awesome.”

Comrie’s last start was Jan. 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, when he mishandled the puck and it went to Auston Matthews for the winning goal in a 6-5 loss. The Jets had been up 4-1.

“After the last game I wasn’t in the best mental space that I’ve ever been in my life. My wife actually helped me get out of it,” he said, before telling reporters about the photos in his car.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel said wives and girlfriends of the players and coaches often feel the same disappointment and frustration as their partners during a team’s losing skid.

“They’ve been wearing this just as much as the players have,” he said. “I know my wife, all the wives and girlfriends, have been trying to help their spouses get themselves out of this. I think they’ll be just as relieved as we are.”

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

“The big thing for me is sometimes you have to look back,” Arniel said. “We play this game and we were all kids. There’s lots of great memories when you’re young, things you went through to get yourself here, and we put so much weight and pressure on ourselves that you can overwhelm yourself.

“That was kind of the message today to the group – let’s go back to that feeling where we’re thinking about why we play this game.”

Mark Scheifele scored twice and Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Toews both ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts. Cole Koepke also scored for Winnipeg (16-22-5) and Gabriel Vilardi contributed two assists.

Namestnikov ended a 29-game goal drought, while Toews halted a 26-game scoring slump.

Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings (18-15-10).

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.

All the Jets felt the happiness of the 14, 412 fans at Canada Life Centre, who sang loudly, did the wave in the third period and gave the squad a standing ovation at the final buzzer.

“I think (the fans) deserved it more than we deserved it,” Comrie said. “We’ve been putting them through some tough times and they’ve been sticking with us.”

Namestnikov, who was a healthy scratch Thursday against Edmonton, tipped in a Logan Stanley shot at 1:31 of the first period. The veteran of 828 NHL games said it was a relief to end the drought.

“Kind of re-evaluate your game and go from there,” Namestnikov said. “It was a new day today and a new mindset. Just go out there and play and have fun.”

It was the third game of a five-game homestand that continues Sunday afternoon against the New Jersey Devils.

“It’s been mentally, physically, emotionally hard on everyone. We go through it,” Arniel said. “We did what we need to do. Now we need to move forward and build off it.”

Arniel said defenceman Neal Pionk missed the game with a lower-body injury, but didn’t confirm it was because he blocked a shot in the loss to the Oilers. Forward Morgan Barron was sidelined with an upper-body injury.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2026.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press