The Winnipeg Jets hit the road for five straight games after wrapping up their three-game homestand Sunday with a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild, their third shutout defeat of the season. Eric Comrie turned aside 27 shots in what was his third consecutive start.

Winnipeg opened the homestand on a positive note with a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets but dropped the next two, falling 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes and 3-0 to Minnesota.

The Washington Capitals enter tonight’s matchup coming off a dominant 5-1 victory over Columbus on Monday. Jakob Chychrun earned First Star honours with a pair of assists, while Logan Thompson stopped 22 shots to secure Washington’s fourth win in its past five outings.

These two clubs will meet again in Winnipeg on Dec. 13, which will conclude the cross-conference season series.

The Jets made some lineup tweaks at Tuesday’s skate, most notably recalling AHL standout defenceman Elias Salomonsson. With Neal Pionk still day-to-day, Salomonsson is expected to make his NHL debut tonight, skating alongside Dylan Samberg on the second pairing.

As of this morning, Winnipeg sits fifth in the Central Division, just three points back of the Utah Mammoth. With the standings tightening, the Jets will need to string together some wins on this road trip to climb back into a wild-card position.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Pearson – Namestnikov – Perfetti

Niederreiter – Lowry – Iafallo

Barron – Toews – Nyquist

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Salomonsson

Stanley – Miller

Comrie

Milic

Puck drop is at 6:00 p.m. and you can watch on Sportsnet West.