Every year in the NHL playoffs there is one guy that stands out and puts up the performance of a lifetime. He takes his game to an entire new level, a level he has never experienced before and his team benefits immensely. Some names of recent players who have found this “second gear” include:

Fernando Pisani of the Edmonton Oilers when they went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2005-06. In that Cinderella run Pisani had 14 goals, 4 assists for 18 points in 24 games. This was incredible, and it earned Pisani a huge pay raise later that summer. He never replicated this success and eventually fell victim to Ulcerative Colitis Disease and was forced to retire from the NHL. Pisani scored this magnificent Overtime winner that season; which still resonates for Oiler fans to this day.

In 2008-09 Daniel Cleary of the Detroit Red Wings had 15 points in 23 games. Not known as an offensive catalyst, Cleary had an outstanding playoff performance this season helping Detroit to the Stanley Cup Finals.

In 2011-12, Bryce Salvador of the New Jersey Devils had 14 points in 24 games and was a +9 averaging 22 minutes per game of ice time. This was incredible for Salvador who has never been an offensive defenseman. He took his game to a whole new level and help New Jersey make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Just last season Bryan Bickell of the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks had 17 points in 23 games. He was a key member of that Stanley Cup winning squad in Chicago, and rode that spring to a fresh, large, big money contract. He has since returned to career averages and has never been as dominant as he was that spring.

Nobody knows why it happens; certain guys have the best 20 games of their career on the biggest stage in hockey, it is an anomaly. Every bounce goes their way, they are in the exact right spots, and they capitalize on the chances they get with an incredible efficiency. It is a phenomenon that has been a part of the NHL playoffs since the 70s. The question is always “Who will it be this year?”

If one were to guess at some front-runners at this point would be Raffi Torres in San Jose, Lars Eller in Montreal and Brendan Gallagher also from Montreal are three names that jump out immediately. Then of course there is the youngster Vladimir Tarasenko with three goals in three games for the Blues and an incredible CF% Rel of 13.4%. The most impressive part of Tarasenko is that he is doing this while coming off injury. Finally Beau Bennett in Pittsburgh with three goals and an assist through three games. Bennett has been a source of secondary offense for the Pens who have had some difficulty in their first round series with the Blue Jackets.

We still have a long ways to go before we know who is this years Pisani or Bickell, who will string together the greatest twenty games of their career and go down as a playoff hero…time will tell.