Sabres 4, Coyotes 1: Defenseman Andrej Meszaros recorded his second straight two-goal performance as visiting Buffalo defeated Arizona in a battle of the league's cellar-dwelling clubs.

Captain Brian Gionta and blue-liner Rasmus Ristolainen each added an empty-net goal for the Sabres, who snapped their five-game winless streak (0-5-1) and moved within four points of the struggling Coyotes with a game in hand. Gionta added an assist and Anders Lindback finished with 28 saves to snap a personal three-game skid.

Defenseman Connor Murphy scored the lone goal for Arizona, which has dropped eight in a row at home (0-7-1) and 17 of its last 18 (1-15-2) at Gila River Arena. Mike Smith turned aside 32 shots in suffering his 39th regulation loss this season.

Meszaros followed up his two-goal effort in a 5-3 loss to Colorado on Saturday by erasing an early deficit to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead in the second period. The 29-year-old Slovakian scored from the point during a power play at 4:27 before his blast from just inside the blue line sailed under a jumping Zac Dalpe and past a screened Smith at 13:36.

After Arizona claimed a 4-3 overtime win in Buffalo on Thursday that resulted in cheers from the opposing crowd, the Coyotes wasted little time drawing first blood in Monday's matchup. Murphy unleashed a shot from the point that sailed between the legs of teammate David Moss and past Lindback 77 seconds into the contest.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Meszaros scored three goals in his first 52 games this season before his recent offensive eruption. ... The NHL team with the worst overall record will be guaranteed to secure one of the top two draft picks, who are expected to be Connor McDavid of the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters and Jack Eichel of Boston University. ... Buffalo C Tyler Ennis, who leads the club with 19 goals and 42 points, sat out his second straight game with an upper-body injury.