Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen earned a 37-save shutout en route to a 2-0 victory over the Florida Panthers. It was a contest critical to both teams as they attempt to claw their way into playoff spots in their respective divisions.
However, for Dallas the final result was secondary when weighed against the players injured over the course of that battle. Stars head coach Lindy Ruff reported after the game that both Tyler Seguin and Ales Hemsky will miss “some time” due to lower-body injuries, per the Stars official website’s Mark Stepneski.
Seguin’s injury occurred when Panthers forward Dmitry Kulikov clipped him late in the contest:
“It’s a dirty shot, something that takes your best player not only out of the game, but out of our lineup for a little bit,” Ruff said, per the Miami Herald.
“Let the league deal with it. I used to yell and scream about things like this and it didn’t do any good. It’s just a shot that didn’t need to happen.”
That’s not the extent of the damage though as after Seguin left the contest, Stars forward Patrick Eaves was struck in the head by the puck.
Eaves was hospitalized as a result.
“He’s had a previous injury there so we’re pretty concerned,” Ruff said.
Eaves suffered a broken jaw and concussion on Nov. 26, 2011 and didn’t play again until Jan. 21, 2013.