Josh Manson crushes Scott Laughton at Center Ice.

The level of physicality around the National Hockey League picks up considerably when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs and thus far we have seen that hold true across every series we have seen.

On Sunday that trend continued when the Los Angeles Kings faced off against the Colorado Avalanche for Game 1 of their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series, and it wasn't long before the physicality came into play here as well.

It was Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson who would set the tone early when he would catch recently acquire Kings' forward Scott Laughton chasing down a puck at center ice. As Laughton reached for the puck he was obliterated by Manson who hit him like a freight train, the impact of the collision sending Laughton horizontal as he flew threw the air before crashing down to the ice.

Laughton was a little slow to get up after absorbing a massive hit, but did manage to leave the ice under his own power and make it back to the Kings' bench.