Sabres 4, Hurricanes 3: Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal and added an assist as host Buffalo held off a furious comeback attempt in a matchup of last-place clubs in the Eastern Conference.

Captain Brian Gionta and Johan Larsson matched Ennis with a goal and an assist apiece while Mikhail Grigorenko also tallied for the Sabres, who would have clinched last place in the league with a loss. Defenseman Zach Bogosian collected a pair of assists and Anders Lindback made a season-high 49 saves.

Captain Eric Staal netted a tally and set up another while Patrick Dwyer and Alexander Semin also scored for Carolina, which fell into a 4-0 hole en route to its fourth defeat in five games (1-3-1). Cam Ward turned aside 21 shots in the Hurricanes' four straight road loss.

Ennis buried Larsson's cross-crease pass with 3:12 left in the second period for a 4-0 lead, but Dwyer answered 78 seconds later by lifting a backhander past Lindback from the right faceoff circle. Semin halved the deficit 2 1/2 minutes into the third, pulling the puck around Lindback and tucking it inside the post, before Staal converted from the slot with 5:22 remaining after Ward was pulled for an extra attacker to make it 4-3.

Grigorenko set the tone 5:41 into the contest, chopping the puck past Ward from the slot to open the scoring before Gionta stripped Hurricanes defenseman Brett Bellemore of the puck and finished a 2-on-1 rush with a wrister to the short side with 4:57 left in the period. Larsson extended the lead 78 seconds into the second as he buried a shot from the slot after a turnaround shot by Ennis caromed right to him.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ennis reached 20 goals for the third time and is one shy of matching his career high from last season. ... Staal scored for the fourth time in seven games for the Hurricanes, who registered a season-high 23 shots in the first period. ... Gionta has collected five goals and 14 points over his last 12 games.