Anaheim Ducks star forward Corey Perry left Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild in the first period after he was upended by a hard hip check from Wild defenseman Keith Ballard. He required assistance getting off the ice.

Here's another look at the hit via @myregularface:

Perry was trying to take the puck wide on Ballard, but the Wild defenseman bent over to deliver a hip check to Perry. The Ducks sniper drove his left leg into Ballard as part of his normal skating stride and ended up take the brunt of the force there. He appeared to be in a fair amount of pain on the ice before being assisted to the team’s dressing room.

Ballard is one of a few defenseman that has delivered more than a few hip checks in his day. The hip check is a legal hit. This one probably is viewed as a hockey play even though Perry’s leg was where the two players met.

Even though the hip check is a legal play, it can still be pretty dangerous. It is often an effective way to slow a rushing forward when it’s too late to try to drive a shoulder into him. So often, though, that play results in only getting a portion of the opponent and the inherently low nature of the hit can lead to some violent collisions.