Chychrun’s clutch performance sealed the win, highlighting his impact since joining Washington
Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored the game-winning goal with under four minutes left in regulation of a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night at Capital One Arena. The Capitals erased a two-goal deficit with a three-goal third period in their first multi-goal comeback of the 2025-26 season. Washington improves to 14-9-2 with the win. Toronto drops to 10-11-3 with the regulation loss, including a disappointing 2-7-0 road record in 2025.
Game Recap
Anthony Beauvillier slipped a puck past Joseph Woll just 16 seconds into the game. But the goal was wiped off the board due to an early whistle as the referee blew the play dead before the crowd in downtown D.C. could truly erupt into chaos. The Maple Leafs responded to the fortunate break as Morgan Rielly scored three minutes later to provide Toronto with a 1-0 lead. The visiting Maple Leafs entered the first intermission with the lead despite being doubled up in shots by the home Capitals (10-5).
Matthew Knies beat Logan Thompson with a snap shot to score his sixth goal of the season early in the second period, increasing the Maple Leafs’ lead to 2-0. The Capitals battled back to cut that lead in half on Connor McMichael‘s backhand goal at 13:18 of the middle frame for a 2-1 game. Once again, Toronto owned the lead despite trailing in the shot count, 23-10, after two periods.
Beauvillier tied the game, 2-2, on a snap shot at 13:16 of the third period as he officially received credit for his fifth of the season. Chychrun slapped a puck over the shoulder of Woll less than three minutes later to give Washington a late 3-2 lead on a play set up by a smooth, cross-ice seam pass from Ryan Leonard. Tom Wilson sealed the win on the empty net for a 4-2 Washington win, his team-leading 13th goal of the season.
With his game-winning goal, Chychrun becomes the second Washington defenseman to score in five straight games, joining Mike Green from the 2008-09 season. The 27-year-old extends his point streak to 10 games, matching the Capitals’ longest such streak by a Washington defenseman, which was accomplished twice in franchise history by Al Iafrate during the 1992-93 season and Robert Picard in the 1978-79 campaign.
Up Next
Following the loss, Toronto will depart Washington, D.C., for a quick trip north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maple Leafs will have a quick turnaround with a Saturday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena tomorrow night. Washington will also travel north for its next contest, a Saturday night matchup against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. It will be the first of a four-game road trip for the Capitals, which takes them out west following their date on Long Island.
Jerry Jones claims Jets turned down absurd trade offer involving Micah Parsons, Quinnen Williams
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently revealed that he offered Micah Parsons plus a first-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for Quinnen Williams during training camp.
Jerry Jones says Jets turned out incredible trade offer for Quinnen Williams
“I wanted a one and Parsons for Williams,” Jones said on 103.5 The Fan. That seems like an absurd offer, but Jones left little up to interpretation.
“A one and Parsons for Williams,” he repeated. Later, he added that the deal did not go through because the Jets “did not have the cap room to pay [Parsons].”
Jones also said something similar to WFAA’s Ed Werder: “We tried at training camp with the Jets to basically make an exchange that was ready to go, heads up, with Quinnen and Micah and a one, and we didn’t get it done.”
Parsons, of course, was instead sent to the Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. The Cowboys later acquired Williams before the trade deadline for a package including a 2027 first-rounder, a 2026 second-rounder and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
Jones has slowly revealed more and more information about the Parsons trade since it was completed. During a September radio appearances on ESPN New York, Jones said that called the Jets regarding Williams when he was shopping Parsons before the season. The Jets were not interested, he claimed, because they “didn’t have the resources to entertain [the] conversation,” similar to his pronouncement on 103.5.
If true, Jets made a big mistake
If Jones’ latest revelation is true, that means two things. First, he was willing to sacrifice a massive amount of value to move Parsons and acquire Williams. Second, the Jets made a huge mistake in not accepting the deal.
Although Williams is an excellent defensive tackle, Parsons is undoubtedly a better and more valuable player, even at a higher price point. This year, Williams has 2.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss this season; per Pro Football Focus, he ranks fifth among interior defenders with 40 pressures but 38th with a 12.1% pass-rush win rate.
Parsons, meanwhile, has 12.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss, plus 67 pressures and a 24.3% pass-rush win rate, both top-three marks among NFL edge-rushers. In his career, he has averaged 0.89 sacks and one tackle for loss per game; Williams’ per-game numbers are 0.41 sacks and 0.60 tackles for loss.
Those numbers may not tell the complete story of either player, but it seems like the Jets should have taken Jones’ offer. Sure, they would have had to pony up for Parsons’ mega-extension, but they were already prepared to move on from Williams. Adding an extra first-round pick on top would also give the Jets an opportunity to add another starter — if not a star — on a rookie contract. That would help to offset the financial cost of acquiring Parsons.
How realistic is Jerry Jones' claim?
But Jones’ words should also be taken with a grain of salt. He has spent a lot of time trying to retroactively justify trading away Parsons, especially after using some of the resulting draft capital to acquire Williams. Claiming that the Jets were not interested in Parsons and a first-rounder for Williams serves to downplay the former’s value and boost the latter’s.
The idea that the Jets could not afford to pay Parsons does not hold water, either. After his extension, the All-Pro edge-rusher’s cap hit in 2025 is just $9.97M. New York certainly could have designed a similar contract structure and absorbed
Perhaps the Jets didn't want to commit so much money to Parsons as they were clearly contemplating a rebuild. Parsons would still be a cornerstone for that effort, but he may not have wanted to weather any losing seasons in the hopes of a future turnaround. But again, adding another first-round pick would have accelerated that process, and a core of Parsons, cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson seems like a solid foundation for the Jets to build from. That is an expensive trio, but having elite players at three of the sport’s most important positions is a good problem to have.
Instead, the Jets declined the Cowboys’ initial offer for Williams before moving him and Gardner at the deadline as part of what appears to be a full-on franchise reset.
