Perry apologetic after early ejection from Winter Classic

DALLAS -- Corey Perry's Winter Classic lasted all of two minutes and 44 seconds on Wednesday.
The veteran winger was ejected from the Dallas Stars' 4-2 win at Cotton Bowl Stadium in the opening minutes of the first period after being assessed a game misconduct for elbowing Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis.
Ellis, who was attempting a shot in Nashville's attacking zone at the blueline when Perry delivered a blow to the head with his elbow up, fell to the ice and remained down for several moments. He was assisted off by teammates Viktor Arvidsson and Austin Watson before departing down the long pathway toward the tunnel with Nashville's training staff. Ellis was ruled out the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.

After being initially sent to the penalty box, officials instead assessed the 34-year-old Perry a game misconduct, a major penalty that led to his dismissal -- the first-ever in a Winter Classic.
Perry was apologetic afterward and said he "didn't mean to hurt" Ellis.

"I went to the bench to get a stick and came back. I reached out to try to deflect the puck or whatever. It was unfortunate," said Perry, who will have

. "I've played with Ryan before and I know him personally. It's very unintentional. I didn't mean to hurt him and I hope he's OK.
"This is a big event. I'm sure he had family in here and I definitely had family here. It's tough. I just hope he's OK."
The Predators took advantage of the five-minute opportunity on the man advantage, building an early 2-0 lead on power-play goals by Matt Duchene and Dante Fabbro. Dallas, however, rallied back with four unanswered scores of its own in a come-from-behind victory.
"Corey Perry is a great competitor -- a wonderful, wonderful player," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said after the game. "Sometimes in hockey when you go to make a hit, you get into some unfortunate situations.
"Corey Perry would never try to hurt anyone. He would play hard, but intention? No."

Comeau rebounds after scary hit

Stars forward Blake Comeau had quite the afternoon.
He left the game midway through the first period after taking a heavy hit from Austin Watson, who sent Comeau flying to the ice where his head appeared to bounce off the playing surface.

He then returned for the second where he scored the Stars' first goal, finishing a feed from Jason Dickinson at 18:52, which led to Dallas' offensive explosion that included three tallies in the final frame.
"It was a big hit ... (but) it's part of the game," Comeau told NBC during the second intermission.

Odds and ends

They said it

"It was perfect. ... My wife actually said to me this morning, she goes, 'Well, what if the game was over the weekend?' I said, 'We'd be going to a movie.'"
-- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday's weather during the Winter Classic

"From another set of eyes, from a fan's perspective, that was great hockey, man. That was a great hockey game, regardless of the outcome. ... If I was out there watching that game, and I was watching this on television, I'd say that was an awesome event. The whole thing was awesome."
-- Bowness on his first Winter Classic
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Jeff Odom is the manager of DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @jeffodom.