Dallas Stars’ forward Corey Perry became the first player ever to get ejected from the annual Winter Classic on New Year's Day after a nasty hit on Nashville Predators’ defenseman Ryan Ellis took him out of the game with an upper-body injury.

Just over two minutes into the first period, Ellis attempted a shot from the blue line when Perry approached him with a high elbow, catching the 28-year-old defenseman in the face as he released the puck.

STARS RALLY TO BEAT PREDS 4-2 IN WINTER CLASSIC AT COTTON

Ellis remained facedown on the ice for about a minute before eventually being helped off by teammates and carted off to the locker room in a motorized cart.

Perry was called for game misconduct for elbowing and was ejected from the game - taking what social media dubbed the most cringeworthy walk of shame in NHL history.

Despite the optics of the hit, Perry said it was just an “awkward play.”

“It was very unintentional,” he said after the game. “I didn't mean to do it. I hope he's OK."

The five-minute major allowed the Predators to take a 2-0 lead after two powerplay goals by Matt Duchene and Dante Fabbro.

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Dallas was able to recover from the early setback and went on to win the game 4-2 after Andrej Sekera scored the game-winning goal following Alexander Radulov’s tiebreaking goal off a one-timer with just under 15 minutes left.

Perry’s ejection from the Winter classic marks the first game misconduct ever during the 12-year tradition and only the second for an outdoor NHL game, Senior writer for NHL.com Dan Rosen reported.