NHL playoffs heating up with multiple below-the-belt "slashes"

The NHL playoffs are famous for their increased physicality, but we're only three days into the 2014 post-season and the nastiness is already starting to boil over. On Friday night alone, NHLers Jamie Benn and Danny Dekeyser found that out the hard way when both were speared in the groin area by Corey Perry and Milan Lucic respectively.

Lucic attacked the Red Wings defenseman from behind in Detroit's 1-0 Game One first round win over Boston, jamming his stick into Dekeyser's lower mid-section. No penalty was called on the play.

Perry, on the other hand, was staring Benn in the face when he pitchforked his stick between his legs later in the evening in Anaheim's game against Dallas. Bizarrely, Perry received a two-minute minor for slashing, but the Stars made him pay, scoring on the power play before ultimately falling 3-2 to Anaheim to go down 2-0 in their first-round series.

In any case, it's safe to say NHLers are getting a little crotchety in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.