Elliott didn't speak with the media after the morning skate Saturday, but addressed his return from injury after practice in Vancouver on Friday afternoon.
"I didn't think it was as bad as it could have been," Elliott said." Luckily I've been able to kind of rest it up and get back out there and feel good. It doesn't really matter what time of year it is, but when it's getting close to the playoffs, it's exciting when you're one of the top teams in the league and you have an opportunity that doesn't come around often ... you want to be part of it any way possible. You've got to make sure that you're all right and you're 100 percent to go, but it definitely gives you a little motivation."
St. Louis will try to support Elliott better defensively than they did Jake Allen in his past two starts, especially on special teams. The Blues' third-ranked penalty kill was beaten five times and their sixth-ranked power play surrendered two shorthanded goals in consecutive road losses against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
"We've got to clean up both ends of our special teams," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We are just overpursuing [on the penalty kill] and getting out of position."
The Blues began Saturday holding second place in the Central Division, two points behind the Dallas Stars for both the Division and Western Conference lead.
St. Louis will also have defenseman Carl Gunnarsson back after missing the game in Edmonton with a lower-body injury.
The Canucks called up forward Chris Higgins from Utica of the American Hockey League on Saturday after right wing Radim Vrbata was injured during a 2-0 loss in Edmonton on Friday.
Higgins, 32, has played 11 NHL seasons but was sent to the AHL in early January with two goals and one assist in 25 games as the Canucks tried to get younger and faster.
"He went down with a great attitude," coach Willie Desjardins said. "Some guys just have character, they are character people, and he'll do the right thing. He did the right thing going down and he'll do the right thing coming up. I have no worries about him."
With forward Alexandre Burrows questionable because of the flu, Vancouver may still be short a forward. Defenseman Chris Tanev is also questionable against St. Louis, but Alex Biega is expected to return after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
Here are the projected lineups:
BLUES
Jaden Schwartz - Jori Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri - Paul Stastny - Troy Brouwer
Dmitrij Jaskin - Patrik Berglund - David Backes
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Ryan Reeves
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Colton Parayko - Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson - Carl Gunnarsson
Brian Elliott
Jake Allen
Injured: Alexander Steen (upper body), Steve Ott (hamstring).
Scratched: Magnus Paajarvi, Anders Nilsson, Robert Bortuzzo.
CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Grenier
Sven Baertschi - Linden Vey - Emerson Etem
Brendan Gaunce - Bo Horvat - Jake Virtanen
Chris Higgins - Jared McCann - Yannick Weber /Derek Dorsett
Ben Hutton - Alex Biega
Dan Hamhuis - Nikita Tryamkin
Matt Bartkowski - Andrey Pedan
Ryan Miller
Jacob Markstrom
Injured: Radim Vrbata (lower body), Christopher Tanev (undisclosed), Alexandre Burrows (flu), Markus Granlund (upper body), Luca Sbisa (upper body), Yannick Weber (upper body), Derek Dorsett (upper body), Jannik Hansen (ribs), Brandon Sutter (broken jaw), Alexander Edler (fractured tibia)
Status Report:Either Dorsett, who has missed the past two games, or Weber, who has missed three games, could return to fill the extra spot on the Canucks' fourth line. ... Steen and Ott are traveling with the Blues and skated on their own after practice ended Saturday.
Who's Hot:Schwartz has a goal and five assists during a four-game point streak.
