ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues assigned goaltender Brian Elliott to the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League for conditioning.

Elliott will start for the Rivermen on Friday against Oklahoma City and Saturday against Lake Erie before returning to the Blues following Saturday’s game.

Elliott, 27, has appeared in 11 games for the Blues this season posting a 3-6-1 record including a 3.65 goals against average and a .851 save percentage. Elliott hasn't played since March 5 as Jaroslav Halak and Jake Allen have taken over the goaltending duties.

SAN JOSE -- Less than 24 hours after shutting out the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi will make his 11th straight start Thursday night when the Sharks face the Detroit Red Wings at HP Pavilion.

Niemi loves a heavy workload, and he said he has no problem playing back-to-back games.

"Especially when the first game goes pretty good, it's pretty easy to go in the second game," Niemi said Thursday morning after the Sharks' optional skate and brief team meeting. "Just keep on doing what I did last night."

Niemi stopped all 22 shots he faced Wednesday night in the Sharks' 4-0 victory, recording his second shutout of the season and 21st of his career. He improved his record to 14-8-5, lowered his goals-against average to 2.22 and improved his save percentage to .922.

"Nemo's our guy," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He had a day off in Anaheim, played, day off coming home. Back-to-back, but he (slept) in his own bed. He should be fine."

The Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday activated defenseman James Wisniewski off injured reserve and placed forward Brandon Dubinsky on IR retroactive to March 22.

The Blue Jackets will face off against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at Rexall Place.

Wisniewski has missed the past 14 games while recovering from a broken foot sustained Feb. 24 at United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks.

VANCOUVER -- Keith Ballard paid the price for playing forward with the Vancouver Canucks.

Moved up from defense to play third line left wing because of injuries to six forwards, Ballard will join them in the infirmary after fracturing his foot in a 1-0 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, and won’t play Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

“Ballard suffered a very, very, very minor fracture to his foot last game -- not exactly sure when and how,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “If this was playoff hockey he would probably be able to suck it up and play, but considering it is quite painful right now we are going

to give him a couple of days. It’s not something that is long term, it’s day to day, very minor.”

PITTSBURGH -- Based on a report from the Winnipeg Sun and observations at the morning skate, it appears the Winnipeg Jets will go with backup goaltender Al Montoya over Ondrej Pavelec in Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a move likely based on past history at Consol Energy Center.

Pavelec has allowed a total of three goals in winning the past two games, but last season he allowed 13 goals in 4 1/2 periods at Consol in losses to the Penguins. He is 0-4-0 with a 5.95 goals-against average in the 3-year-old facility.

The projected lines and defense pairings for Thursday night's game:

ST. LOUIS -- Probable lineups for Thursday night's Western Conference matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues (8 p.m. ET, NHLN-US) from Scottrade Center.

KINGS

Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams

Mike Richards - Tyler Toffoli - Jeff Carter

Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis

Kyle Clifford - Colin Fraser - Jordan Nolan

OTTAWA – Jared Cowen practiced with the Ottawa Senators for the first time this season Wednesday. Cowen was sidelined with a torn labrum in his left hip sustained during a game with the Binghamton Senators in October. The defenseman had surgery in November and expected to miss the rest of the season.

Goalie Craig Anderson also worked out with the team Wednesday. Anderson sprained his ankle on Feb. 21 against the New York Rangers, and though he still has no set date for his return, he did not rule out being ready to play against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Here are the projected lineups for the Rangers and Senators on Thursday night at Scotiabank Place:

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Buffalo Sabres managed three goals and 32 shots in their past two games combined, and now they'll have to face the Florida Panthers on Thursday night without their leading scorer.

Coach Ron Rolston said after the morning skate Thursday that wing Thomas Vanek would miss the game because of an upper-body injury he sustained in Tuesday's 2-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

While Vanek will sit, struggling forward Drew Stafford will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games.

TORONTO -- Randy Carlyle didn't beat around the bush.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs coach was asked what he needed from James van Riemsdyk, he smiled and said, "Goals."

The 23-year-old right wing will try to snap a five-game pointless drought Thursday night when the Maple Leafs host the Carolina Hurricanes -- two teams battling for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Carolina defeated Toronto in the teams' previous two meetings this season.

Van Riemsdyk is third in Toronto scoring with 14 goals and 22 points in 34 games, but has one assist in his past seven games.

The New York Rangers on Thursday put the finishing touches on the signing of Norwegian forward Mats Zuccarello.

According to sources, Zuccarello's deal is for a pro-rated $700,000 over the remainder of the NHl season. Zuccarello is with the team Thursday's game against the Ottawa Senators.