MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens may catch a break tonight against the Washington Capitals as Alex Ovechkins game status remains uncertain for their Bell Centre match-up. Washington has played its last two games without the NHLs goal-scoring leader. The winger has 35 goals on the season and is battling a lower-body injury. TSNs John Lu reports that Ovechkin did extensive one-timers at end of his session at Saturdays morning skate. Lu reports that if Ovechkin feels good in the afternoon and during pre-game skate he should play. You can listen to the action on TSN Radio 690 beginning at 7pm et. Both clubs will be looking to snap losing streaks on Saturday night as each wraps up games on back-to-back nights. The Capitals are in the midst of a seven-game skid, dropping the last five in regulation. That has Washington now four points back of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal is on a less-damaging three-game slide and also has lost six of its past nine. That has left the Canadiens tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division and six points behind the co-leading Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal is set to play two straight and six of its next seven at home after getting outscored 14-5 in losing the final three contests of a four-game road trip. The Canadiens capped the swing last night with a 4-1 setback in Detroit. Brendan Gallagher picked up the lone goal for the Canadiens, but Carey Price made just 22 saves in the setback. "Everyone is still confident in each other, its just a matter of getting to little details of the game and once you do that, the wins will start to come," Gallagher said Montreal is on its longest losing streak since dropping a season-high four in a row from Nov. 1-7 and saw Alexei Emelin depart in the latter stages of the third period on Friday night after getting hit by a shot. Things dont get any easier for the Habs in the opener of this residency as they have lost six in a row and nine of their last 12 at home to the Capitals. The Capitals were shut out 2-0 by Ottawa in their first game without Ovechkin on Tuesday, then dropped a 2-1 decision to the hosting New Jersey Devils to begin a five-game trip on Friday night. Jason Chimera provided the lone offense for the Capitals, but it didnt come until there was 9:50 left in the game. Washington has been held to one goal or fewer six times over its losing streak and is just 1-for-24 on the power play in the last eight games. Michael Neuvirth played well in defeat, making 28 saves, but the Caps failed to take advantage of the chances they had. "We had three short-handed breakaways and we didnt score," Caps coach Adam Oates lamented. "(Devils goaltender Cory Schneider) held them in and made the saves when he needed to. We made saves, too. You need execution, and the mistakes are not blatant, but its still the NHL and you get burned." Washington, on its longest losing streak since an 0-6-2 drought from Dec. 2-18, 2010, also lost center Mikhail Grabovski to a lower-body injury during the second period and he did not return. He will be a game-time decision against Montreal. The clubs split two meetings earlier this season in Washington, with the Caps winning their game in a shootout, and the Canadiens have lost nine of their last 11 overall in this series. Ben Wallace Pistons Jersey . Nick Holden scored two goals and had an assist and the Avalanche held off the Nashville Predators 5-4 Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. Henry Ellenson Jersey . - UFC 178, previously announced for Sept. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Allen...Edition-Jersey/. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota (5): He was calm, poised, and looked comfortable all game. Blake Griffin Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Andre Drummond Jersey . The Raptors general manager has his list of possible draft selections whittled down to a handful ahead of Thursday nights NBA draft in Brooklyn, New York. The Raptors, who have auditioned dozens of players over the past couple of weeks, have the 20th overall pick in the first round, as well as the 37th and 58th picks in the second.Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. McDowells last victory on the European Tour came at the Alstom Open de France earlier this year, while his latest PGA Tour win was at the 2013 RBC Heritage. Obviously the course played fairly difficult today, said McDowell. The wind direction had switched completely from practice, some of the game plan had switched a little bit and some of the holes were playing pretty long. A big key to this golf course is driving the ball well and I drove it very well today. I think I missed only one fairway, which is very important. The greens are in fantastic shape and I actually putted very well U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark and Tommy Fleetwood are tied for second at 3-under 69 at Sheshan International Golf Club. Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, Hyung-sung Kim, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson, Jaco Van Zyl and Dawie Van Der Walt are all deadlocked at 2-under 70. McDowell, beginning his first round on the back nine, stormed out of the gate to grab the early lead and he never let go despite a couple miscues down the stretch. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland quickly got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 first. Following a pair of pars on 11 and 12, McDowell drained four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13, with a par coming on 15. After making the turn at 5-under with a par on 18, McDowell kept going strong with another par on one followed by a pair of gains on two and three. At 7- under through 12 holes, McDowell finally began to slow down as he dropped his first shot on the par-4 fourth. After a trio of pars from No. 5, McDowell bogeyed his second hole at eight, dropping him back to minus-5. He finished with a par at No. 9 to end there. Seven-under par through 12 holes was a beautiful start, and alghouth I dropped a couple coming in, all in all Im very, very pleased with 5-under par on what I thought was a reasonably tricky day, McDowell said.dddddddddddd This is as tough off the tee as I think Ive ever seen this golf course. Kaymer, also playing the back nine first, made the turn at minus-1 after making birdies on 13 and 16 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kaymers second bogey on one dropped him back to even par, but birdies on two and five had him back in red numbers. Kaymer made his third bogey on six, but a pair of birdies on seven and eight got Kaymer to minus-3. He rounded out his day with a par on No. 9. Fowler started off with two straight pars on 10 and 11 followed by another gain on 14. Fowler traded a bogey on 17 for a birdie on 18 to make the turn at minus-3. Birdies on two and eight were canceled out by bogeys on four and seven as Fowler finished his day tied for second at 3-under. Snedeker had a solid front nine with birdies on two and seven. He dropped two shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, but gains on 14, 16 and 18 were good enough to put Snedeker at minus-3 through one round. Kirk made his move up the leaderboard on his first nine with birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kirk played his final nine at even par with a gain on six and a bogey on five. Fleetwood made the turn at minus-1 following birdies on two and five along with a bogey on six. Fleetwood fell back to even par after a bogey on 10, but he finished strong with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13. Clark started off hot with three straight birdies from two, but bogeys on five and seven gave two of those shots back. Another birdie on nine was canceled out by a bogey on 10. Clark then made three birdies in four holes from 13. He also bogeyed 15. NOTES: Of the 80 players to tee off on Thursday, only 27 of them finished the first round under par ... McDowell has 10 top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year, including his win at the Open de France ... McDowells only other victory in Asia came at The Championship at Laguna National in 2008 ... Kevin Stadler and Graham DeLaet both withdrew during their first rounds. ' ' '