(SportsNetwork.com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center. Listen to the action live on TSN Radio 690. The Canadiens have boosted their standing in the Eastern Conference playoff picture lately, winning four straight and seven of their last eight games. Another victory on Saturday would match Montreals five-game tear from Nov, 30-Dec. 7 for its longest winning streak of the season. Montreal leads Tampa Bay by two points for second place in the Atlantic Division with the top three teams from each division earning automatic bids to the playoffs. The Lightning, who visit Buffalo on Saturday, do hold a game in hand over the Habs. Tomas Plekanec did not make the trip to Florida. With Boston close to clinching the division title and Tampa Bay nine points ahead of fourth-place Toronto, it seems likely the Canadiens and Lightning will face each other in the opening round of the playoffs. The teams finishing second and third in each division will face each other in the first round. The Habs last played on Thursday when they pulled out a 5-4 regulation win in Detroit. Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek each scored during a wild third period to help Montreal down the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. The Canadiens held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes only to see Detroit even the score on two goals from Tomas Tatar in the first 4:30 of the third period. However, Pacioretty gave the lead back to Montreal at 5:48 of the third and Vanek made it 5-3 with 8:45 remaining in the period. Detroits Johan Franzen tallied 21 seconds after Vanek, but the Red Wings were unable to get even after that. Vanek added a pair of assists and Tomas Plekanec potted a pair of early goals for the Canadiens. David Desharnais had a goal and an assist, while Carey Price survived the three-goal outburst by the Red Wings in the final frame during a 26-save effort. "The second and third periods werent good at all. We got lucky that we found a way to win," Plekanec said. Thursdays test marked the start of a four-game road trip for Montreal, which improved to 21-14-2 as the away team this season. Florida is ranked 15th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and is about to miss the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 seasons. The Panthers have lost four of their last five games and were held to one goal or less for the third time during that stretch after Thursdays 3-0 home loss against Carolina. Jiri Tlusty tallied twice and Anton Khudobin posted a 35- save shutout to help the Hurricanes down Florida at BB&T Center. Roberto Luongo started in net for Florida and stopped 11-of-12 shots in the first period, but the veteran netminder was forced to leave the contest prior to the start of the second after being run over by Carolinas Radek Dvorak with just over seven minutes left in the opening frame. Dan Ellis recorded 18 saves in relief for the Panthers, who have lost four of their last five games. Luongo will miss Saturdays game with an upper-body injury, leaving Ellis to make his third start of the season tonight since being acquired from the Dallas Stars. "Its never a fun situation because you know your partner, something might not be good with him," Ellis said of coming on in relief of an injured Luongo. "But thats the job and you have to be ready when they call you." Florida is 14-16-5 as the home club this season and is completing a three-game stay in Sunrise. The Panthers will then play their next two tests on the road before finishing the regular season on a five-game homestand. The Panthers are 2-1-0 against Montreal this season, but the Habs won the last encounter when it posted a 2-1 home victory on Jan. 6. The Canadiens have won four of six overall in the series, but Florida is 3-1-1 in the last five encounters at BB&T Center. Craig Mager Jersey . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Melvin Gordon Jersey . The pair ended pointless droughts when they each scored two goals in a 6-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets that halted a two-game losing skid for the Stars (15-11-5). http://www.chargersauthenticshop.com/Cha...n-Draft-Jersey/. PETERSBURG, Fla. Corey Liuget Jersey .Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90 on Tuesday night.Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters. Joe Barksdale Jersey . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Tampa Bay currently holds the last of the Atlantics three automatic bids to the playoffs, but the Maple Leafs are just one point behind.The Pittsburgh Penguins dealt a top scoring winger, improving their forward depth in the process. Numbers Game breaks down the trade sending James Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. The Predators Get: RW James Neal. Neal, 26, is a power forward who has been riding high while playing on Evgeni Malkins wing for the bulk of his time in Pittsburgh. Over the past three seasons, he has scored 88 goals, which ranks fifth, behind Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry and Phil Kessel. Hes also put up dominant possession stats, but a lot of that would figure to be related to the favourable ice time that he gets with Malkin. While the Predators are aiming to get more scoring in their game, they dont nearly have the playmakers to compare with Pittsburgh, so if Neal ends up playing with Mike Fisher, Colin Wilson or Calle Jarnkrok, none of them is particularly dominant offensively, so expect Neals production to dip. The question is, how far? Before he joined the Penguins, Neal had 131 points in 214 games with the Dallas Stars, a 50-point pace over an 82-game season. That should be about the baseline, with room to move up because Neal currently is a better player than he was from age 21 to 23, but we can also keep in mind that Neal has scored more than 60 points twice in his career. Neal is signed for four more years, at a cap hit of $5-million per season, so hes a reasonably-priced first line forward for the Predators. The Penguins Get: RW Patric Hornqvist and LW Nick Spaling. Hornqvist is a 27-year-old winger who has been one of the more prolific shooters in the game over the past five seasons. Hes a four-time 20-goal scorer who is most effective right around the crease, deflecting shots and knocking in rebounds. He played primarily with Mike Fisher last season (with Colin Wilson and Matt Cullen their most common linemates) and while that line was effective -- Hornqvists relative possession stats have always been really good --- its not quite as dynamic as what opportunities Hornqvist should have in Pittsburgh.dddddddddddd If Neal is expected to see his scoring go down as a result of this trade, naturally Hornqvist should expect an uptick in his scoring numbers. He scored a career-high 53 points last season and while his on-ice shooting percentage was a career-best, it wasnt outrageous and is still below what is typical for wingers alongside Malkin or Crosby. Signed for four more years, at a cap hit of $4.25-million, Hornqvist comes a little cheaper than Neal, but not dramatically, so the Penguins have to expect that they are not going to lose much offensively. Spaling, 25, scored a career-best 32 points last season, playing a career-high 16:01 per game, and while he may not play quite as much in Pittsburgh, the hope is that he might help the Penguins bottom six forwards. However, Spalings possession stats have been rough for most of his time in Nashville, which doesnt suggest that hell be turning the tide on his own. A restricted free agent who earned $1.5-million last season, Spaling is looking at a raise, but the Penguins are probably not in position to give him a lot more money, but they need Spaling to give them more reliable minutes on the third line. It didnt come as a massive surprise that the Penguins moved Neal -- it has been rumoured as a possibility for some time -- but the return may be something of a surprise. The Penguins didnt save a bunch of money; rather, they found a couple of forwards with the hope that will help improve their depth up front. They sacrificed the most talented player in the deal, though, and that presents a certain amount of risk, particularly if Hornqvist doesnt produce at the same level. For a Nashville team that is making a concerted effort towards a more offensive style, Neal is a big addition, well worth the price they paid. 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. 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