Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane left Tuesday's home game against the Florida Panthers after he was checked into the boards in the first period.

It looked as if Kane slammed his left shoulder into the boards after he was cross-checked by Alex Petrovic with 12:11 left in the frame. He stayed down on the ice for a short time while a few of his teammates rushed over to confront Petrovic, who received a two-minute penalty for cross-checking.

Kane appeared to be favouring his left arm or shoulder as he skated to the bench and went straight to the locker room.

The Blackhawks announced before the start of the second period that Kane would miss the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.

"Looks like he might miss some time, but we'll know the extent of it tomorrow," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see."

Kane is tied for the NHL lead with 64 points. He leads the Blackhawks with 27 goals and 37 assists.

"You can't replace Kaner. He's a special talent, somebody who's really irreplaceable," Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg said. "It's going to have to be by committee. Guys are going to have to step up and find ways to get the job done."