The Dallas Stars pulled within three points of a wild card spot but may have lost more than they can make up.

Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars picked up an important two points Friday night against a Florida Panthers team also on the outside of the playoff picture trying to get in. The price paid in the third period could sink any hopes the Stars of closing that gap any further.

With just under seven minutes to go in the third period and Dallas leading by the eventual final score, Tyler Seguin was breaking across the blue line on the rush into the Panthers zone. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov lined up an unsuspecting Seguin and went to deliver a big hit. Ordinarily that’s a hockey play. But this was not to be ordinary as Kulikov tucked to throw a hip check and tucked way too low on impact. The result of the hit was ugly and drew and immediate response from Alex Goligoski. Seguin was left writhing in obvious discomfort on the ice and was eventually taken to the locker room and did not return. Take a look here at the video courtesy of NHL.com:

Kulikov actually places his hands on the ice to stabilize himself as he glides into the hit on Seguin. Clearly this is too low of a hit and a very dangerous play that should earn at least a phone call from the NHL Department of Player Safety. Kulikov was handed a five-minute major penalty for clipping and tossed from the rest of the game as he should have been.

To make matters worse for the Dallas Stars as Seguin was being tended to for what was clearly a “lower-body injury”, winger Patrick Eaves took what looked like a half shot, half slap pass from teammate John Klingberg in the side of the head. Eaves crumpled to the ice and immediately looked like he was in trouble. He lay near motionless for a few minutes before teammates helped him to his feet and slowly skated him off to the dressing room. The injury report may read “upper-body injury” when it comes out but if you were at or watching the game and say his eyes, there is no doubt in your mind concussion testing is going to happen tonight and in the coming days. The icing on the cake is Ales Hemsky also left the game with what is being called a “lower-body injury”.

Hopefully news on the injured players in the next few days isn’t as bad as it looks. Fans of the Dallas Stars have to be holding their breath watching several of their best players leave with injuries. Lindy Ruff did absolutely nothing to ease those concerns in his post-game press conference where he indicated both Seguin and Hemsky will “miss some time”. That could add more fuel to the trade rumor circuit if GM Jim Nill thinks his team is good enough to catch Calgary, Vancouver or Winnipeg for a wild card spot.

Perhaps a name to watch as March 2nd creeps closer is Phil Kessel. The wildly productive Toronto Maple Leafs may be getting fed up with the pressure cooker that is the Toronto market. When asked about a potential trade and his future with the Leafs, Kessel responded he would “go where they want me” and seemed further indifferent to the thought of staying in Toronto. If a proven weapon like Kessel is available there should be 29 general managers making that call. And they will find a high price tag as they should. This trade would not come cheap. But Jim Nill was bold in acquiring Seguin in the first place. He certainly has the moxie to pull a deal like this off, but does he have the assets? And would he part with them to chase eighth place or miss the playoffs entirely?

I do not expect the Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars to sit idle and allow the opportunity to make the playoffs to fade away. If they can hold on, acquire extra punch in the top six and sneak in as a seven or eight seed they could be a tough out with Lehtonen being capable of stealing a game or two himself. One thing is for certain: the next two weeks for the Dallas Stars just got a lot more interesting for all the worst reasons.