HAIRY TIMES AT THE ACC.
The Maple Leafs earned a 3-2 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday in a National Hockey League game that saw Toronto’s Nazem Kadri rip out part of Joe Thornton’s mountainman beard in a fight.
Toronto had to kill off a Mitch Marner high-sticking call with 1:50 left in overtime.
Auston Matthews and Tyler Bozak scored for the Leafs in the sixround shootout.
Kevin Labanc was the lone successful Shark thanks to goalie Frederik Andersen.
Former Shark Patrick Marleau hit the post in his shootout attempt.
Toronto had lost 10 straight (08-2) to the Sharks and had won just one of the last 15 games (1-14-0) against them.
Matthews and Kadri scored in regulation for Toronto (24-16-2), which had lost its last three games.
Brenden Dillon and Chris Tierney scored for San Jose (21-12-5), which outshot Toronto 32-28 during regulation time.
It was a frigid -26 C with the wind chill outside but it was hot from the get-go inside the Air Canada Centre with Thornton and Kadri dropping the gloves just two seconds in after slashing each other at the opening faceoff like manic lumberjacks.
The 38-year-old Thornton’s beard took a beating in the scrap, thanks to Kadri hanging on to his facial hair rather than his jersey as he was twirled around by the bigger Shark.
A hunk of Thornton’s facial hair was left on the ice like a mini-tumbleweed, ultimately finding its way to the glove of backup goalie Aaron Dell on the San Jose bench.
“We were trying to figure out what it was,” the Sharks’ Tierney said when interviewed prior to the third period.
It was likely also a first for the 19,132 in attendance.
Toronto came out fighting and had plenty of jump against the talented Sharks in a wide-open, entertaining game that saw plenty of big saves at both ends.