Forwards Rocco Grimaldi and Colin Wilson will join the Avalanche lineup, along with defenseman Duncan Siemens, for Tuesday's game against Buffalo at the Pepsi Center.

It's the final game of a five-game homestand, and the final game of captain Gabriel Landeskog's four-game suspension. He has been practicing and will return to the lineup Thursday in Tampa when the Avalanche begin a four-game road trip.

Grimaldi, recalled Monday from San Antonio, will play right wing on a line with Sven Andrighetto and Wilson. Siemens replaces Mark Barberio.

Grimaldi had a goal and two assists in five games in a previous call-up this season. He had four goals and six assists in 14 games with the Rampage.

"Rocco's been playing well," coach Jared Bednar said. "He came up here and gave us a spark last time. He found a way to produce in a few games. He was tenacious on pucks. He works hard and he skates hard. He went down there and did the same thing and found a way to be productive. We need a spark, we need a way to create a little more offense, and I think he can help us do that."

Said Grimaldi; "Work hard, have fun and play my game and everything should be fine. I just have to play the best that I can anytime I get called up and have fun and try to help our team get two points."

Siemens, the Avalanche's second first-round pick (No. 11) in 2011, has only played five NHL games -- three at the end of last year -- since he turned pro five years ago. He had a goal, two assists and 29 penalty minutes in 20 games with San Antonio.

"We like the jam that he plays with, he has a little sandpaper to his game," Bednar said. "He's hungry to prove that he belongs here. He had a good training camp and we liked what we saw when we called him up at the end of last season. We're willing to give guys opportunities. We're trying to get better and make sure we have the best team on the ice."

Said Siemens: "Hopefully I can come in and have an impact and stick around for a little while. With the depth that we have on the back end, everybody's fighting for ice time. You need to have your best day or someone else will step in and do it for you. I bring a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, I play with a little bit of an edge. I bring that physical, stay-at-home simple style. I have to play with a little bit of a mean streak."

Wilson missed the past three games with a lower-body injury, and six previous games because of a hip injury. He has one goal and four assists in 16 games.

"I think the last four, five games I started feeling like myself out there and feeling like I was making the plays I can (before the injury)," Wilson said. "I'm looking to build off that, keep trying to contribute. Play a puck-possession game, control pucks down low and be responsible defensively."

The Sabres (6-17-4) have the worst record in the NHL. They've scored one goal in a four-game losing streak, have one win in the past 12 games (1-9-2) and have lost six consecutive road games (0-4-2). The power play is 0-for-26 the past nine games.

Former Avalanche forward Ryan O'Reilly is shouldering much of the blame. He has seven goals, nine assists and is minus-19 in 27 games. He's gone eight games without a goal and six without a point.

"We've had a terrible start to the year and I don't think I've contributed the way I need to," he said after the morning skate. "It's probably the worst start I've had in my career. I'm not impacting the game the way I want to. I'm one of the guys that has a lot of responsibility on me. I have to be better.

"I can't be looking at anyone else to change. I'm the one who needs to change and make a difference. We've got the pieces, we're not doing what we want to do, and a lot of it's me. I play big minutes, power play, and I'm not creating enough. I think the biggest issue is scoring goals. If we can do that and get a little confidence behind us, that's going to help us a lot."

The Avalanche lineup:

FORWARDS
J.T. Compher -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nail Yakupov
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Sven Andrighetto -- Colin Wilson -- Rocco Grimaldi

DEFENSE
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Anton Lindholm -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Duncan Siemens

GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Jonathan Bernier



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