Tyler Seguin Injury: Updates on Stars Forward's Lower Body and Return

Forward Tyler Seguin has been integral in keeping the Dallas Stars afloat in the Western Conference playoff race, but they will have to proceed without him indefinitely after he left Friday's game with an injury.

According to Mark Stepneski of the Stars' official website, head coach Lindy Ruff revealed that his top player will be out for an undetermined amount of time:

Seguin was placed on injured reserve, with a lower-body injury which means he will miss at least seven days and three games, per Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News.

The 23-year-old All-Star was knocked out of action in a 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers due to a questionable hit by Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, as seen in this video courtesy of Sportsnet:

Per the Stars' Twitter account, Kulikov was penalized for the low hit, which took Seguin's legs out from under him:

After the game, Ruff was livid about losing such an important player to an illegal check, according to ESPN.com.

"It's a dirty shot," Ruff said. "You end up taking your best player out. Not only out of the game, but he's taken him out of the lineup for a little bit. We'll let the league deal with it ... It's just a shot that didn't need to happen."

To make matters worse, forwards Patrick Eaves and Ales Hemsky were also injured for the Stars Friday:

Seguin is currently third in the NHL with 59 points and fourth with 29 goals. He is among the top candidates to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP, so there is no question that losing him for any period of time is a major blow to Dallas.

The Stars are tied for 10th in the Western Conference with 60 points, and they are currently three points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Dallas has some firepower aside from Seguin in the form of Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza. While those players may be able to keep the Stars in contention for now, it is difficult to imagine them qualifying for the postseason without Seguin for a significant amount of time.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter