At the Rink: Sabres at Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Buffalo Sabres will be without leading scorer Tyler Ennis for a second straight game Monday when they play against the Arizona Coyotes (10 p.m. ET; MSG-B, BELL TV, FS-A PLUS) for the second time in five days.

Ennis missed the 5-3 loss Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche with a left shoulder injury and took to the ice very late Monday for some non-contact drills.

The Coyotes looked good on a three-game road trip with overtime wins against Buffalo and the Detroit Red Wings and a good effort in 3-2 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Goalie Mike Smith continues to play his best hockey of the season and Arizona is now six points ahead of the Sabres, who have an NHL-low 48 points.

"We were very competitive, Smith was excellent and we had contributions right through our lineup," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "Whether it was defending, or big overtime goals, it's exactly what we're looking for from our team at this point. We have to make sure we put the work in to become a competitive team.

"Of course we're not in a great position, but a couple of wins certainly changes the mood. They take pride in working hard and I give them a lot of credit for working and giving it everything they've got."

Smith has a .934 save percentage in the month of March. And while the losses continue (3-9-1) seeing Smith find his game and the offensive progression of players like forward Tobias Rieder and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a big plus.

"Smith has been excellent. This is the best stretch he's had all year, which is good to see," Tippett said. "It's good to see him get back in the groove. Right now he's playing with so much confidence; he's not worrying about anything, he's just playing and the results have been there."

Anders Lindback will start in goal for Buffalo. The Sabres got three goals from their defense in the loss against the Avalanche. Andrej Meszaros scored twice and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for the second time in as many games.

The Coyotes are still without forward Lauri Korpikoski, who took a stick to the mouth on the road trip and needed several sets of stitches. He is on the bike and hope of practicing sometime this week.

Coyotes captain Shane Doan will play in his 1,390th game tonight, tying Doug Mohns for 38th on the all-time list.

Here are the projected lineups:

SABRES

Matt Moulson - Johan Larsson - Brian Gionta

Marcus Foligno - Mikhail Grigorenko - Zac Dalpe

Nicolas Deslauriers - Philip Varone - Patrick Kaleta

Matt Ellis- Tim Schaller - Cody Hodgson

Andre Benoit - Zach Bogosian

Mike Weber -- Rasmus Ristolainen

Nikita Zadorov - Andrej Meszaros

Anders Lindback

Andrey Makarov

Scratched: Tyson Strachan, Matt Hackett

Injured: Tyler Ennis (shoulder), Jerry D'Amigo (upper body), Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), Josh Gorges (lower body), Chad Johnson (lower body), Cody McCormick (blood clots), Evander Kane (shoulder)

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder – Mark Arcobello – Shane Doan

Martin Erat – Sam Gagner – David Moss

Craig Cunningham – Kyle Chipchura – Jordan Szwarz

Tye McGinn – Joe Vitale – B.J. Crombeen

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone

Klas Dahlbeck – Connor Murphy

Andrew Campbell -- John Moore

Mike Smith

Louis Domingue

Scratched: Brandon Gormley

Injured: Mikkel Boedker (upper body), Martin Hanzal (upper body) , Lauri Korpikoski (upper body)

Status report: Makarov was called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League and will back up Lindback. … Gionta will skate with Matt Moulson and Johan Larsson in place of Ennis on the first line. … Doan will be available after the NHL Department of Player Safety said he will not face supplemental discipline for a hit on Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who left the game with what was diagnosed as a concussion.

Who's hot: Arcobello is riding a career-long point streak of three games (two goals, five points). Arcobello leads the Coyotes with seven goals and 13 points in 21 games since being picked up on waivers from Pittsburgh. … David Moss has three of his four goals this season in the past three games. … Gionta has seven points (three goals) in his past seven games.