Hairy fight sparks Toronto win
TORONTO — Nazem Kadri was an assist short of a bizarre Gordie Howe hat trick.
Toronto’s Kadri ripped out part of Sharks center Joe Thornton’s mountain-man beard in a fight off the opening faceoff and scored in regulation in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 shootout victory over San Jose on Thursday.
Thornton and Kadri dropped the gloves just two seconds after being tossed out of the opening faceoff for slashing each other like manic lumberjacks. Thornton’s beard took a beating in the scrap, thanks to Kadri hanging on to it rather than Thornton’s jersey as the two battled. A hunk of facial hair was left on the ice like a mini tumbleweed.
“I ended up with a piece of it in my hand,” Kadri said. “I have no idea how that happened. I thought I was a hockey player, not a barber. I didn’t mean to grab him there. I mean, he’s a big boy. I couldn’t reach all the way across his shoulder. I felt like I just grabbed him in the middle of his jersey and just came down with a handful of his hair.”
Thornton didn’t comment after the game.
The hair ultimately found its way to the glove of backup goalie Aaron Dell on the San Jose bench.
“We were trying to figure out what it was,” Sharks forward Chris Tierney said.
Kadri, who was giving up at least 4 inches and 30 pounds to Thornton, had a welt on the side of his face as a souvenir of the fight.
“I didn’t see that coming,” said former Shark Patrick Marleau.
The fight seemed to spark the Leafs, who snapped a three-game losing streak. They had plenty of jump against the Sharks in a wideopen, entertaining game that saw plenty of big saves at both ends.
“It was a good fight,” Leafs center Auston Matthews said. “It kind of gets everybody pumped up, especially to see a smaller guy like that” fight.
Matthews and Tyler Bozak scored for the Leafs in the six-round shootout. Kevin Labanc was the lone successful Shark thanks to goalie Frederik Andersen, with Tierney hitting the goalpost in the Sharks’ final attempt after Bozak scored.