Avalanche scratch 'underachieving' Jones, McGinn

DENVER -- Colorado Avalanche coach Joe Sacco is shaking up the lineup for the game Wednesday against the Dallas Stars at Pepsi Center, scratching healthy forwards David Jones and Jamie McGinn.

Jones has gone nine games without a point, and has three goals, four assists and a minus-10 rating in 26 games. McGinn has gone five games without a point, and has one goal and one assist in 14 games despite playing on the Avalanche's top line with Matt Duchene and PA Parenteau. McGinn has four goals, nine assists and a minus-10 rating in 28 games.

"It's a case of just underachieving," Sacco said after the morning skate. "In [Jones'] case, we've been real patient with him and trying to let him work himself out of his slump that he's in right now. The bottom line is I have to put some guys in there that I think can maybe provide us with a little bit more at this time. The same thing with McGinn; he's been struggling lately. He's had a good opportunity playing with Duchene and Parenteau, and he needs to play a physical game consistently all the time, not just parts of the game.

"It's a message to the team too. It's not good enough. We've lost four games in a row and we need to be better. As a team, we can't wait around for guys to get their game. Hopefully it won't be long-term, but we'll see. It's a good chance for Mark Olver to get back in the lineup. Every game he's played, he's played gritty, he plays with energy. It's a chance for a guy like Cody McLeod to move up a little bit and get a little more ice time. Even a guy like Chuck [Kobasew], their numbers aren't too far off (those of Jones and McGinn). Let's shake it up and see what we get."

Defenseman Stefan Elliott, recalled Tuesday from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League, will replace Shane O'Brien in the lineup. Elliott had no points in six games with the Avalanche earlier this season. He has four goals and five assists in 39 AHL games.

Here are the projected lineups for the Stars and Avalanche:

STARS

Ray Whitney - Jamie Benn - Loui Eriksson

Brenden Morrow - Derek Roy - Jaromir Jagr

Antoine Roussel - Cody Eakin - Erik Cole

Eric Nystrom - Vernon Fiddler - Reilly Smith

Philip Larsen - Jordie Benn

Trevor Daley - Alex Goligoski

Brenden Dillon - Stephane Robidas

Kari Lehtonen

Jack Campbell

Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak, Tomas Vincour

Injured: Ryan Garbutt (hand), Aaron Rome (foot)

AVALANCHE

John Mitchell - Matt Duchene - PA Parenteau

Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Aaron Palushaj

Cody McLeod - Paul Stastny - Milan Hejduk

Patrick Bordeleau - Mark Olver - Chuck Kobasew

Greg Zanon - Erik Johnson

Matt Hunwick - Ryan O'Byrne

Jan Hejda - Stefan Elliott

Semyon Varlamov

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Scratched: David Jones, Jamie McGinn, Shane O'Brien

Injured: Steve Downie (knee), Ryan Wilson (ankle)