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. Cheap Jerseys China . 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. Cheap Jerseys From China . Bailey pitched six scoreless innings in a friendly ballpark for his first win of the season and Jay Bruce homered and doubled as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 8-2 on Sunday. Cheap Jerseys . -- A few drivers, like Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, raced onto the track to get in their qualifying sessions.The Boston Bruins had their title defence cut short when they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season. However, it was Bostons fifth straight season making the playoffs and the third time in the last four seasons that the Bruins topped 100 points. Off-Season Game Plan looks at a talented and tough Bruins team that will be facing a different set of challenges this summer. A year ago, the Bruins were celebrating and trying to figure out how to construct a team capable of defending the Stanley Cup they had just won. This year, they are facing the prospect of not having goaltender Tim Thomas, who has stated that he intends to take the year off. Without Thomas, the Bruins still have a capable starter, Tuukka Rask, so theyre in better shape than some other team would be if their starting goaltender suddenly decided that he wasnt going to play. Goaltending shouldnt be a prime concern, in part, because the Bruins have a quality core of defencemen returning. With Zdeno Chara leading five veteran returnees, and top prospect Dougie Hamilton on the way, Boston may only need to tweak the lineup with a veteran for depth. Up front, Boston may need to replace checkers Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell, but there will be plenty of talent, especially if Nathan Horton is healthy. With a healthy Horton, the Bruins have a lot of favourable options among their top six forwards and Boston could very easily go into next season with a roster similar to the one that they had for the 2011-2012 season, but the Bruins also have the depth of talent to be able to engage in trade talks for an elite forward if there is an appetite to upgrade their talent level. Midway through last season, the Bruins were rolling along as a dominant team poised to defend their title, when the club suffered some injuries and lost their edge for a while. Going into next season, there is every reason to believe that a healthy Bruins team can once again be one of the leagues best. The TSN.ca Rating is an efficiency rating based on per-game statistics including goals and assists -- weighted for strength (ie. power play, even, shorthanded) -- plus-minus, hits, blocked shots, giveaways, takeaways, penalty differential and faceoffs. (Stats are listed in this format: G-A-PTS, +/-, PIM, GP). Generally, a replacement-level player is around a 60, a top six forward and top four defenceman will be 70-plus and the biggest stars will be over 80. Evgeni Malkin finished at the top of the regular season ratings with a 93.12. Salary cap information all comes from the indispensable www.capgeek.com. GM/COACHPeter Chiarelli/Claude Julien Returning Forwards Player Rating GP G A PTS +/- Cap Hit Tyler Seguin 76.11 81 29 38 67 +34 $3.55M Patrice Bergeron 75.71 81 22 42 64 +36 $5.0M Brad Marchand 73.84 76 28 27 55 +31 $2.5M Rich Peverley 71.79 57 11 31 42 +20 $3.25M David Krejci 71.78 79 23 39 62 -5 $5.25M Milan Lucic 71.63 81 26 35 61 +7 $4.083M Nathan Horton 70.54 46 17 15 32 0 $4.0M Jordan Caron 60.11 48 7 8 15 0 $1.1M Daniel Paille 57.96 69 9 6 15 -5 $1.3M Shawn Thornton 56.15 81 5 8 13 -7 $1.1M Marc Savard N/A $4.007M Free Agent Forwards Player Rating GP G A PTS +/- Class 11-12 Cap Hit Chris Kelly 68.15 82 20 19 39 +33 UFA $2.125M Benoit Pouliot 65.59 74 16 16 32 +18 RFA $1.1M Brian Rolston 60.92 70 7 17 24 -5 UFA $5.063MM Gregory Campbell 57.08 78 8 8 16 -3 UFA $1.1M Tyler Seguin took a massive jump forward in his second NHL season, more than tripling his rookie-season point total and ranking second in the league with a plus-34 rating. Seguin was the only player in the league to score more than 65 points while playing under 17 minutes per game, so there is room for even more production simply by taking on a bigger role, let alone what could happen as the 20-year-old gets stronger as he matures. The only player in the league with a better plus-minus than Seguin was Patrice Bergeron, a centre who tackled tough defensive assignments and thrived, with the best all-around season of his career. Its taken some time, after concussions nearly derailed his career, but Bergeron is once again a top-end two-way forward. Brad Marchands role on the club continues to grow and he spent much of the season alongside Bergeron and Seguin. Marchand is an agitator, but hes productive too -- there are only two other players in the league (David Backes, Alex Burrows) that have scored at least 45 goals and been plus-45 or better over the last two seasons. A versatile two-way player who can play wing or centre and contribute on the power play, Rich Peverley was a career-best plus-20 despite playing in only 57 games. If the Bruins lose Chris Kelly to free agency, Peverley may be a fit as the No. 3 centre. David Krejci tied his previous seasons point total, yet finished with a career-low minus-5 rating, thanks in large part to a rough stretch in February in which he tallied one goal and was minus-6 in an 11-game span. At his best, Krejci is a brilliant playmaker, a smart player with vision who can make his linemates better. Power forward Milan Lucic is one of only two players to top 60 points and 100 penalty minutes in each of the last two seasons (Anaheims Corey Perry is the other) and Lucic does it while putting up modest power play numbers (50 of his 61 points last season were even-strength). A concussion ended Nathan Hortons season on January 22 and, after he was concussed in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, there was understandably a lot of concern about his long-term prognosis. It appears that Horton is expected to be ready for training camp next year, which would help the Bruins, who missed his toughness and goal-scoring ability after he was injured last season. 21-year-old winger Jordan Caron eased his way into the lineup, playing 48 games in his second pro season. While he didnt play much, Caron did respond to an increased role late in the regular season, contributing eight points in a six-game span in early-to-mid March. If the Bruins are healthy, there may not be a big role for Caron, but he should be better-equipped to produce when the opportunity presents itself next season. Daniel Paille is an honest worker who earned a new contract with the Bruins even though his 15 points in 69 games represented the lowest per-game scoring rate of his career. 34-year-old enforcer Shawn Thornton accrued a career-high 154 penalty minutes last season, but gets a few more minutes per game than standard heavyweight pugilists, though he wasnt as effective last season as he was the year before. In a town that appreciates a blue-collar bruiser, Thornton remains a popular part of the team. Consistency can still be an issue for lanky winger Benoit Pouliot, but he scored a career-high 32 points and was career-best plus-18 last season. Hes skilled enough to produce more, but teh 25-year-old has yet to earn the trust of his coaches to play a more significant role. The Bruins have enough talent on hand to be competitive, but if they want to take a bolder step forward, they could get involved in trade talks for a big-name forward like Rick Nash or enter the bidding for free agent Zach Parise. Returning Defence Player Rating GP G A PTS +/- Cap Hit Zdeno Chara 79.99 82 12 40 52 +33 $6.917M Dennis Seidenberg 71.43 80 5 18 23 +15 $3. Cheap NFL Jerseys. 25M Johnny Boychuk 70.03 77 5 10 15 +27 $3.367M Andrew Ference 69.86 72 6 18 24 +9 $2.25M Adam McQuaid 64.45 72 2 8 10 +16 $1.567M Free Agent Defence Player Rating GP G A PTS +/- Class 11-12 Cap Hit Joe Corvo 68.39 75 4 21 25 +10 UFA $2.25M Greg Zanon 65.23 56 3 5 8 +3 UFA $1.933M Mike Mottau 58.16 35 0 2 2 -11 UFA $800K Zdeno Chara is 35-years-old, but just scored a career-high 52 points and, for the second straight season, led all defencemen with a plus-33 rating. He takes on the toughest assignments and succeeds. While Chara will slow down at some point, he remains at an elite level right now. Boston has been a good fit for stay-at-home defenceman Dennis Seidenberg, who played a career-high 24:02 per game last season, finishing with a career-high plus-15 rating. He was one of nine defencemen in the league to record both 150 hits and 150 blocked shots last season, so he lays his body on the line on a consistent basis. Johnny Boychuk offers similar traits to Seidenberg, a willingness to hit, block shots and, generally, do the dirty work that is required from a defensive-minded defenceman. Hes also a plus-52 over the last three seasons. Veteran Andrew Ference scored 24 points last season, the second-best total of his career and played a bigger role down the stretch and into the playoffs. Maybe hes a number five defenceman in an ideal situation, but Ference has been able to handle top four minutes when required. Physical defenceman Adam McQuaid doesnt play much, under 15 minutes per game, but hes solid enough as a depth defenceman. His plus-46 rating over the last two seasons ranks third among defencemen (behind Chara and Vancouvers Dan Hamhuis), which isnt to suggest that McQuaid is anywhere near their class, but at least an indication that hes effective in the role to which hes been assigned. While that group of five is a steady group, the Bruins obviously need more to round out the group. Top prospect Dougie Hamilton might be a contender for a spot, but free agent options like Matt Carle, Carlo Colaiacovo or Justin Schultz could be puck-moving parts of the solution too. Returning Goaltender Player Rating GP W L OTL GAA SV% Cap Hit Tim Thomas 77.50 53 22 16 11 2.46 .917 $5.0M Free Agent Goaltender Player Rating GP W L OTL GAA SV% Class 11-12 Cap Hit Tuukka Rask 84.10 23 11 8 3 2.05 .929 UFA $1.25M Marty Turco 30.70 5 2 2 0 3.68 .855 UFA $600K Calling Tim Thomas a returning goaltender is an inaccurate title, but hes under contract, so just leave him there, as opposed to the category of Veteran Player Taking a Year Off For Personal Reasons. It has been an unusual year for Thomas, to be sure, but its hard to be optimistic about the state of his game after he takes a season off. With Thomas planning to sit out, Tuukka Rask has an easy transition to the starters job. Rasks season ended prematurely when he suffered a groin injury, but his save percentage of .927 over the last three seasons ranks highest among all goaltenders that played at least 90 games, ahead of Thomas (.926), Henrik Lundqvist (.924), Pekka Rinne (.922) and Tomas Vokoun (.922). Now that Rask is due for a starters workload, and Thomas is out, that opens the door for Anton Khudobin, the 26-year-old who had a strong season for Providence in the AHL last season and is on a one-way contract for 2012-2013. Top Prospects Player Pos. Team/League Stats Dougie Hamilton D Niagara (OHL) 17-55-72, +37, 50 GP Alexander Khokhlachev C Windsor (OHL) 25-44-69, -19, 56 GP Jared Knight RW London (OHL) 26-26-52, +23, 52 GP Ryan Spooner C Sarnia (OHL) 29-37-66, -4, 57 GP Maxime Sauve LW Providence (AHL) 11-15-26, -7, 39 GP Tommy Cross D Boston College (HE) 5-19-24, +15, 44 GP Torey Krug D Michigan State (CCHA) 12-22-34, +17, 38 GP Justin Florek LW Northern Michigan (AHL) 19-17-36, +4, 37 GP Anton Khudobin G Providence (AHL) 24-19-3, 2.61 GAA, .919 SV%, 44 GP Craig Cunningham LW Providence (AHL) 20-16-36, -12, 76 GP The ninth overall pick last summer, Dougie Hamilton stands 6-foot-4 and has premium offensive ability. Defencemen tend to need time, but Hamilton may be able to compete for a spot as soon as next season as a 19-year-old. Last years second-round pick, Alexander Khokhlachev is a skilled playmaker, but is only 18. Hell need time, but could prove to be an intriguing player in the long run. Taken in the second round in 2010, Jared Knight is a solid prospect, but hasnt put up tremendous point totals at the junior level, so its reasonable to question just how big his impact will be once he reaches the pros. Ryan Spooner, also taken in the second round in 2010, has more offensive upside and has tallied seven points in eight AHL games over the last couple seasons. A lanky winger who made his NHL debut last season, 22-year-old Maxime Sauve has 66 points in 106 AHL games to this point in his career and that pro experience could at least have him in position to rate as a call-up next season. There are more recent second-round picks ahead of him, but 22-year-old Tommy Cross was taken in 2007 and has steadily improved through four collegiate seasons. At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Cross has size that puts him ahead of some of Bostons smaller, more mobile blueline prospects. Signed out of Michigan State, 5-foot-9 defenceman Torey Krug played a couple of games for the Bruins late in the year. If he can handle the pro grind, Krug does have the skating and puck skills to be productive in the NHL. 6-foot-4 winger Justin Florek scored enough at Northern Michigan to be encouraged about his chances as a pro and his size gives him a chance to at least fit a role as a checker. At 26, Anton Khudobin is old as prospects go, but with a one-way contract for next season and a solid minor-league track record (along with a 1.32 GAA and .961 SV% in seven career NHL games), Khudobin is ready for his shot in the backup role. Smallish winger Craig Cunningham scored 20 goals as an AHL rookie, for a Providence team that didnt have a lot of big scorers, so its worth tracking his development, to see if the 21-year-old can build on his pro debut. The Bruins have an interesting mix of other prospects to consider. Chris Bourque scored 93 points in the AHL last sesaon, Brian Ferlin had s solid freshman season at Cornell, while Matt Bartkowski and David Warsofsky are defencemen that have a chance to compete for call-up spots. DRAFT24th - Tom Wilson, Slater Koekkoek, Derrick Pouliot, Dalton Thrower FREE AGENCYAccording to www.capgeek.com, the Bruins have approximately $58.6M committed to the 2012-2013 salary cap for 18 players. Check out my potential 2012-2013 Bruins roster on Cap Geek here. Needs: One top nine forward, depth forwards, one top four defenceman, backup goaltender.What I said the Bruins needed last year: One top nine forward, one top four defenceman. They added: Benoit Pouliot, Joe Corvo. TRADE MARKET David Krejci, Milan Lucic. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '
