They are the hits that can change the momentum of a series.
No matter how mundane a game may be, fans will always be jolted out of their seats with a bone-jarring hit, but every playoff season there are a few dished out that are destined to go down in post-season lore.
This week, as the Stanley Cup playoffs get set to move into the second round, Hockey.com keeps you in the championship spirit with the best playoff hits of all-time.
Many players have been put into another time zone by skating across the blueline with their heads down, but the hits just seem to be harder, or at least more discussed, come playoff time. Just ask Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya and Vyacheslav Kozlov.
"Believe me, it's hard to describe how it feels being on the other end of one of those," says Kozlov of being laid out by Scott Stevens in the 1995 Stanley Cup final. "And I know."
"For the next 10 minutes after the hit, I didn't remember a lot, I can tell you that,"
From Stevens and Todd Bertuzzi to Dion Phaneuf and Marc-Andre Bergeron, these hits caused more than a few snot bubbles and stuttered names for those who ended up being on the receiving end.