Toronto Maple Leafs forward Colton Orr took part in the morning skate but was ruled out of action against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday because of a lower-body injury. Because of the injury to Orr, it is expected that David Steckel will center the fourth line. It will be the first time Steckel has played since Feb, 14.

Goaltender James Reimer was also on the ice briefly before he left for the dressing room. Reimer injured his knee against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 11, but is inching closer to returning.

Here is the Maple Leafs' projected lineup for Thursday's game:

James Van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel

Leo Komarov – Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolai Kulemin

Jay McClement – Nazem Kadri – Clarke MacArthur

Frazer McLaren – David Steckel – Mike Brown

Dion Phaneuf – Korbinian Holzer

Carl Gunnarsson – Michael Kostka

Cody Franson – Mark Fraser

Ben Scrivens

Jussi Rynnas

Scratches: John-Michael Liles – Mike Komisarek

Injured: Colton Orr – Joffrey Lupul – James Reimer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The injuries are mounting for the Carolina Hurricanes, including a concussion to forward Jeff Skinner that will sideline the third-year player indefinitely.

For Skinner, this marks the second concussion of his career. He was sidelined for more than a month after a December 2011 hit by the Edmonton Oilers' Andy Sutton. Skinner's loss will be felt immediately; he had 14 points in his first 13 games.

"[Skinner] is a big part of the team this year," Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. "You see the big timely goals he was getting. We've got to adapt. We've got some guys that -- bottom line -- have to step up and contribute and help the hockey club win."

TAMPA, Fla. -- When the schedule maker smiles on you, you accept it and smile back.

So far in this shortened season, the Boston Bruins have had a lot to smile about regarding their schedule. To date, they have played the fewest number of games in the NHL. The current League high is 18 games played; Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Tampa Bay Times Forum will be game No. 14 for the Bruins.

And after Thursday, they get another break before facing the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

"Time off seems to be a recurring theme with our schedule of late," Boston forward Shawn Thornton said. "If I get caught saying it's a vacation I’m going to get yelled at. We had a couple of days off and had some practices to get ready for this -- at this point in the season we are fairly rested, so we should have a lot of energy. I think rest is a good thing, especially with the condensed schedule, so I'm going to look at it as a positive."

DALLAS -- Here are the projected lineups for Thursday night's game between the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center:

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alexandre Burrows

Chris Higgins – Ryan Kesler – Zack Kassian

David Booth – Jordan Schroeder – Mason Raymond

Dale Weise – Maxim Lapierre – Aaron Volpatti

Dan Hamhuis – Kevin Bieksa

Alexander Edler – Christopher Tanev

Keith Ballard – Jason Garrison

Cory Schneider

Roberto Luongo

Scratches: Andrew Alberts, Cam Barker

Injuries: Jannik Hansen (suspension), Manny Malhotra (eye)

OTTAWA – Here are the projected lineups for the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place on Thursday night:

RANGERS

Carl Hagelin – Derek Stepan – Marian Gaborik

Chris Kreider – Brad Richards – Ryan Callahan

Taylor Pyatt – Brian Boyle – J.T. Miller

Brandon Mashinter – Jeff Halpern – Arron Asham

Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi

Marc Staal – Anton Stralman

Michael Del Zotto – Matt Gilroy

Henrik Lundqvist

Martin Biron

Injured: Rick Nash, Darroll Powe

Scratches: Stu Bickel

Coach John Tortorella hopes his team can use its time in Ottawa to shrug off the memories of a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

According to the Miami Herald, the Florida Panthers will start Jose Theodore in goal Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, with Scott Clemmensen serving as the backup.

Top prospect Jacob Markstrom, called up from the American Hockey League on Wednesday, will be a healthy scratch, but the newspaper reported he is expected to play Friday, when the Panthers play at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Herald also is reporting forward Alex Kovalev will be a healthy scratch Thursday.

Here are the projected lineups for the New York Islanders vs. the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday night.

ISLANDERS

Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Brad Boyes

Michael Grabner – Marty Reasoner – Kyle Okposo

Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Keith Aucoin

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin McDonald

Andrew MacDonald – Travis Hamonic

Joe Finley – Mark Streit

Thomas Hickey – Lubomir Visnovsky

Evgeni Nabokov

Rick DiPietro

Jaroslav Halak is healthy again, and that means Jake Allen finds himself back in the American Hockey League.

The St. Louis Blues assigned Allen to their affiliate in Peoria on Thursday, one day after Halak performed admirably in a 1-0 overtime loss to Colorado, stopping the first 19 shots he faced.

Allen started four straight games for the Blues while Halak was on the shelf, winning the first three. In five total appearances this season, the 22-year-old Allen is 3-1-0 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard plans to start Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets after he was pulled from the team's previous game with blurry vision.

Howard left in the first period of Tuesday night's 4-3 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators after giving up two goals on seven shots.

In other lineup news, forward Jan Mursak is set to play for the first time since opening night, when he injured his collarbone. Defenseman Kent Huskins is set to replace Jakub Kindl on the blue line.

PITTSBURGH -- The Philadelphia Flyers won't have to wait much longer for their leading goal-scorer from a season ago.

Wing Scott Hartnell was cleared to return to practice Wednesday and is on track to play in a game in a week to 10 days, general manager Paul Holmgren said. Hartnell missed his 15th consecutive game Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hartnell, who had a career-high 37 goals last season, has been recovering from a broken left foot sustained in a Jan. 22 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Holmgren also updated the status of injured defenseman Andrej Meszaros.