DENVER -- These are the projected lineups for tonight’s game between the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center:

BLUES
Alex Steen - David Backes - T.J. Oshie
David Perron - Patrik Berglund - Chris Stewart
Matt D'Agostini - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner
Chris Porter - Scott Nichol - Ryan Reaves

Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk
Carlo Colaiacovo - Alex Pietrangelo
Kris Russell - Roman Polak

Brian Elliott
Jaroslav Halak

Injuries: RW B.J. Crombeen (shoulder), LW Andy McDonald (concussion), D Kent Huskins (ankle) and C Vladimir Sobotka (ankle) are out.

AVALANCHE
Matt Duchene - Paul Stastny - Daniel Winnik
Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Milan Hejduk
Brad Malone - Jay McClement - TJ Galiardi
David Van Der Gulik - Kevin Porter - Cody McLeod

Jan Hejda - Shane O'Brien
Stefan Elliott - Erik Johnson
Matt Hunwick - Ryan O'Byrne

Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Semyon Varlamov

Injuries: RW David Jones (groin), RW Chuck Kobasew (head), LW Peter Mueller (head), C Mark Olver (head), D Ryan Wilson (head) and RW Brandon Yip (groin) are out.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks called up center prospect Brandon Pirri from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and placed injured forward Daniel Carcillo on injured reserve to make room on the roster.

Pirri may go straight into the active lineup if rookie center Marcus Kruger cannot play after taking a big hit in the first period Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and not returning after playing the rest of the first.

The 20-year old Pirri has played one game this season with the Hawks and finished with an assist in 15:43 of ice time in the season-opener Oct. 7 in Dallas. Pirri, Chicago’s second-round pick in the 2009 NHL Draft (No. 59),  is the AHL’s seventh-leading scorer with 13 goals and 31 points in 28 games.

Carcillo has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury believed to be a concussion since getting injured Dec. 14 in Minnesota.

Check back for more information after Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville meets with the media in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. Pirri and Hawks captain Jonathan Toews will also speak with reporters at the United Center prior to Quenneville.

Martin Frk, one of the top players eligible for the 2012 Draft, will not be joining the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Calgary, Alta., beginning Monday.

Frk, who missed 29 games this season with a concussion, is in his second season with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. According to the Halifax Herald, Frk will "head home for the holidays and not return to the Mooseheads until January."

He is ranked No. 2 among skaters in the QMJHL by NHL Central Scouting.

Defenseman Seth Jones, who was battling for a roster spot on the U.S. National Junior Team this week, sustained an upper-body injury in Tuesday's exhibition game against Team Russia and will be unable to participate in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Jones apparently suffered his injury after taking a big hit along the boards while attempting to drive the net.

USA Hockey released a statement regarding Jones on Wednesday afternoon. U.S. coach Dean Blais is scheduled to name his official 22-man roster headed to Edmonton to compete in Group B of the tournament on Thursday morning.

Here are how the lineups could look tonight when the Dallas Stars host the Philadelphia Flyers at American Airlines Center:

FLYERS
Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Jaromir Jagr
James Van Riemsdyk - Danny Briere - Jakub Voracek
Tom Sestito - Maxime Talbot - Wayne Simmonds
Harry Zolnierczyk - Matt Read - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn
Andrej Meszaros - Matt Carle
Andreas Lilja - Marc-Andre Bourdon

Sergei Bobrovsky
Ilya Bryzgalov

Scratches: Erik Gustafsson, Ben Holmstrom, Jody Shelley, Matt Walker.

Injuries: Blair Betts (knee), Sean Couturier (head), Chris Pronger (concussion).

Notes: Lilja is poised to return after a 10-game absence due to a high ankle sprain. He last played on Nov. 25 against Montreal. Bobrovsky will start in goal tonight, his 13th game of the season. He last appeared between the pipes for the Flyers in mop-up duty against Boston on Saturday. Bobrovsky's last start was Dec. 15 at Montreal, a game Philadelphia won 4-3. Bobrovsky is 6-2-1 this season with a goals-against-average of 2.72.

STARS
Loui Eriksson - Jamie Benn - Michael Ryder
Brenden Morrow - Mike Ribeiro - Steve Ott
Eric Nystrom - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak
Jake Dowell - Tom Wandell - Adam Burish

Sheldon Souray - Stephane Robidas
Nicklas Grossman - Trevor Daley
Alex Goligoski - Mark Fistric

Richard Bachman
Andrew Raycroft

Scratches: Adam Pardy, Toby Petersen.

Injuries: Philip Larsen (quad contusion), Kari Lehtonen (groin), Tomas Vincour (MCL).

Notes: Robidas will be a game-time decision after taking a puck to the skate during morning skate. If Robidas is unable to go, Pardy will step into the defensive rotation, likely alongside Souray, Robidas' normal D partner. Bachman (4-1-0, 2.25) will make his sixth straight start between the pipes for Dallas. Tonight's contest is the second of a three-game homestand for Dallas.

DALLAS -- Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux, who has missed the last four games with a concussion, will be a game-time decision for tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars.

Giroux, who is currently tied for the NHL lead in points (16-23-39), last played on Dec. 10 against Tampa Bay, contributing a pair of assists in a 5-2 win over the Lightning.

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said that he didn't know whether or not the center of his top line would be available for tonight's contest at American Airlines Center.

Philadelphia did not have a morning skate with an early start time due to the game being nationally televised on Versus, but Giroux was one of five Flyers to skate after a short team meeting in their locker room.

Should he make his return tonight in the Lone Star State, one of his teammates who would be the happiest to see him back is linemate Jaromir Jagr.

"Not only he is a great player, we don't have that many centermen left," Jagr said. "We have guys playing out of position, guys that have never played centerman playing there. I think that's the worst [part of it]. If maybe we had other centermen to replace him, maybe it's not the same, but it's a lot better than if you have to move guys around to play center. That's what we've got right now, and it's kind of tough.”

Philadelphia will hit the ice tonight on a two-game winless streak, which comes on the heels of their seven-game winning streak that ended with a 6-0 home loss to Boston on Saturday night. The Flyers are currently the best road team in the league with a 12-3-2 record.

One sign that Giroux could be returning tonight is that Ben Holmstrom, who has been centering the Flyers' fourth line, was one of the five players skating after the team meeting. If Holmstrom is scratched, that would likely mean Giroux is back to center the top line, which would likely shift Danny Briere to the second line, Maxime Talbot to the third and Matt Read to center the fourth.

Jason Labarbera will start in goal for Phoenix, after Mike Smith left the game Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury. Whether not Smith will dress as the backup is to be determined.

The Hurricanes have recalled center Riley Nash from the American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers to replace Tim Brent, who suffered an injury during practice Tuesday. The game will mark Nash's NHL debut.

Jeff Skinner, who is out with a concussion, has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 7.

Here are the projected lineups for when these two teams meet Wednesday night at RBC Center:

HURRICANES

Drayson Bowman - Eric Staal - Chad LaRose
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jussi Jokinen - Tuomo Ruutu
Jiri Tlusty - Brandon Sutter - Patrick Dwyer
Andreas Nodl - Riley Nash - Anthony Stewart

Tim Gleason - Jamie McBain
Jaroslav Spacek - Justin Faulk
Jay Harrison - Bryan Allen

Cam Ward
Justin Peters

COYOTES

Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Raffi Torres - Boyd Gordon - Kyle Chipchura
Taylor Pyatt - Cal O'Reilly - Lauri Korpikoski

Adrian Aucoin - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Keith Yandle - David Schlemko
Michal Rozsival - Derek Morris

Jason LaBarbera
Mike Smith

CHICAGO – The Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks both opted not to have a morning skate at United Center before facing each other Wednesday night.

That means questions about the playing status of Chicago players will have to wait until Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville meets with the media Wednesday afternoon. The first will pertain to rookie center Marcus Kruger, who was hit hard by Derek Engelland early in the first period Tuesday night in Pittsburgh and didn’t return to the ice.

Quenneville said after the 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins that Kruger was “OK,” but did not say whether he would be able to play against Montreal. Quenneville might also be asked about defenseman Brent Seabrook, who was seen skating slowly toward the Chicago bench late in the game Tuesday holding his arm. Seabrook also had to leave a game Sunday at United Center after a hit from behind by Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque drove his head into the boards.

Quenneville said that Seabrook leaving that game was mostly a precaution, as the star blueliner has had three undisclosed upper-body injuries in the past that are believed to have been concussions. Another question for Quenneville will likely be about who starts in net for the Hawks.

Ray Emery has started six straight games, including Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, but Quenneville said after the morning skate Tuesday that it was “very likely” Corey Crawford would start against the Canadiens – which would be his first start since being pulled from a Dec. 5 game against the Phoenix Coyotes.

As for Montreal, the biggest lineup questions are on the blue line. Recently-named head coach Randy Cunneyworth shuffled up his top defense pairings Monday against the Boston Bruins by putting Raphael Diaz with Josh Gorges and sliding P.K. Subban next to Hal Gill.

Subban and Gorges had been playing together since the start of the season in October, but Gill and formed a pair for most of last season. Cunneyworth also said that Peter Budaj will get the start in net instead of Carey Price.

Here’s a look at the projected lineups:

CANADIENS

Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Erik Cole
Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Travis Moen
Andrei Kostitsyn - Lars Eller - Louis Leblanc
Mathieu Darche - Petteri Nokelainen - Mike Blunden

Josh Gorges - P.K. Subban
Hal Gill - Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle - Chris Campoli

Peter Budaj
Carey Price

BLACKHAWKS

Andrew Brunette - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp
Viktor Stalberg - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Jeremy Morin
John Scott - Jamal Mayers - Michael Frolik

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Sean O'Donnell - Steve Montador

Corey Crawford
Ray Emery

Note: If Kruger is able to play, the Blackhawks lines will likely change. Kruger left the loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins after one period, which forced Quenneville to move star forward Patrick Kane w back to center of the second line between Stalberg and Hossa. Brunette and Sharp were also moved to the top line with Toews, while rookie Jeremy Morin -- who started that game on the top line -- was bumped down to the third line with Bickell and Bolland. Imposing 6-foot-8 defenseman John Scott, who can play some wing on the fourth line when needed, could also find his name in the lineup again after standing up for Kruger by fighting -- and punishing -- Pittsburgh's Derek Engelland for the hit, which the Hawks took exception to, despite not being penalized.

PHILADELPHIA -- While NHL Senior Facilities Operations Manager Dan Craig oversees the rink build, Senior Vice President of Events Don Renzulli is keeping an eye on all the other work going on in the transformation of Citizens Bank Park from baseball stadium to outdoor hockey wonderland.

"As long as the weather stays with us, we'll be in pretty good shape," Renzulli told NHL.com earlier this morning. "A lot has been done the last two days. We're on schedule as far as the things that are going on the field."

Among them are the elevated broadcast platforms where NBC and CBC will broadcast the game, as well as an entertainment stage in left field. The host chalets for NBC and CBC have been built in near the right field wall, with the roofs and windows finally installed.

Renzulli said approval from the city for the 1,500 temporary seats installed in center field should come tomorrow, and other temporary seating installed around the ballpark has been finished. Signage and other décor is starting to be hung in Ashburn Alley, the ballpark's signature outfield concourse.

"Things are going relatively smooth," said Renzulli. "Once the rink is up, the transformation is really the core. They're starting to put some banners up in the alley right now. Once that goes up, it starts to transform the whole place."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK