(My Sportsbook) - The red-hot Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the struggling Buffalo Sabres for tonight's Northeast Division clash at HSBC Arena.

The Canadiens have won four in a row on the heels of a three-game slide and another victory tonight will equal the club's five-game winning streak from October 11-20. Prior to this winning streak, the Canadiens had gone 3-11-1 in their previous 15 games.

Montreal comes into tonight's test as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With 75 points, the Habs are three behind Philadelphia for the fourth seed and just one point in front of Florida.

Montreal picked up its most recent victory this past Saturday in a home tilt against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks. Jaroslav Halak made 46 saves to backstop the Canadiens to the 3-2 triumph at the Bell Centre.

Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist each while Josh Gorges also scored for the Habs.

Not coincidentally, Montreal has been riding the heady play of Halak, who has seemed to supplant starter Carey Price between the pipes. Halak has backed all four wins on the streak and improved to 16-10-1 on the season.

Montreal is kicking off a three-game road trip tonight and will also stop in Atlanta and Dallas during the swing. The Habs are 14-16-3 as the guest this year and have just two wins in their last 12 road contests.

The Sabres, meanwhile, have dropped three straight and four of their last five games. As a result, Buffalo has fallen outside the Eastern Conference playoff race for the time being and is currently the 10th seed and three points out of postseason berth.

Buffalo is 0-2-1 during its slide and last played on Saturday when it was handed a road loss by the lowly New York Islanders. Yann Danis stopped 31 shots to secure his second consecutive home shutout and Sean Bergenheim scored twice as the Isles notched a 2-0 win over the Sabres at Nassau Coliseum.

Patrick Lalime turned away 32-of-34 shots for the Sabres.

On a positive note, Buffalo expects to have leading goal scorer Thomas Vanek back on the ice tonight after the Austrian sniper missed the last nine games with a fractured jaw. Vanek, who leads the Sabres with 32 goals this year and is second on the club with 52 points, hasn't played since getting hit in the face with a puck in a test against Ottawa on February 7.

Buffalo, however, will be without starting netminder Ryan Miller for a fourth straight contest this evening. The steady backstop is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain he suffered during the Sabres' 4-2 win over the Rangers a week ago.

The Sabres are playing the first of two straight on home ice tonight and will also host Phoenix on Friday. Buffalo is 17-12-2 at home this year, but has dropped two of three and three of its last five tests in western New York.

Buffalo and the Canadiens have split four meetings this year, but Montreal has taken five of seven and eight of the last 13 encounters between the clubs. However, the Habs have dropped two in a row, five of seven and seven of their last 11 games at HSBC Arena.