Drew Doughty helped off the ice after taking DIRTY knee on knee hit!

An absolutely reckless play by Dallas Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpää is likely going to cost him. 

Hakanpaa committed a ridiculous knee on knee hit on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty during tonight's game at American Airlines center in Dallas. The Kings defenseman was visibly shaken up, and had to be helped off the ice by his teammates and the training staff:

Hakanpaa was assessed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. He can almost certainly expect to receive a call from the NHL Department of Player Safety in the near future. But to his credit, he expressed remorse after the game. 

“I saw him coming down the wing, I was just trying to deny him the entry to our zone,” Hakanpää said. “It was unfortunate what happened and I really hope he’s going to be well, and be back playing as soon as possible. Something you never want to see happening, a guy going down like that.

"I wish he’s going to be back soon. Such a great player, just for the case of his teammates and all the fans watching hockey, I’m really, really sorry about him going down like that.”

Doughty came into Friday's game having scored one goal and six assists in his team's first three contests of the year. And according to Stars head coach Rick Bowness, he doesn't believe it was an intentional play.

“He’s not going out there to hurt anyone,” Bowness said. “It’s just one of those hockey plays. The league will deal with it the best they see fit. It’s unfortunate, and we hope Drew is OK. We really do, because he’s a great player, he’s a great asset to our league. I hope he’s OK, but it’s unfortunate.

“It wasn’t intentional at all, it’s just Jani’s a big guy, he’s a physical guy and sometimes that stuff’s going to happen.”