MAPLE LEAFS BEAT SHARKS 3-2 AFTER FIGHT OPENS GAME

TORONTO» Auston Matthews and Tyler Bozak scored in a shootout to give Toronto a 3-2 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night in a game that opened with a fight that saw the Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri rip out part of Joe Thornton’s mountain-man beard.

Toronto killed off a Mitch Marner high-sticking penalty that gave the Sharks a 4-on-3 skating advantage for the final 1:50 of overtime.

Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak and a 10-game slide (0-8-2) against the Sharks.

Thornton and Kadri dropping the gloves just two seconds into the game after slashing each other at the opening faceoff.

The 38-year-old Thornton’s beard took a beating in the scrap, thanks to Kadri hanging on to his beard 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.

THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

Nino Niederreiter had a hat trick in his return from an injury, Mikko Koivu contributed a goal and two assists, and the finally fully healthy Wild routed the Sabres 6-2 . ... Ivan Provorov had two goals and an assist, and Sean Couturier had a goal, an assist and participated in one of several fights for the Flyers in a gutsy 6-4 victory over the slumping Islanders. … Sebastian Aho scored twice, Cam Ward stopped 21 shots and the Hurricanes beat the Penguins 4-0. … Paul Stastny broke a third-period tie with his eighth goal of the season, Carter Hutton continued his hot play in goal and the Blues beat the Golden Knights 2-1. … Paul Byron scored in a shootout as the Canadiens ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Lightning. … Tyler Seguin scored his team-leading 20th goal short-handed, Alexander Radulov had a goal and two assists and the Stars beat the Devils 4-3. … Christian Fischer scored off Jakob Chychrun’s rebound at 2:41 of overtime to give the Coyotes a 3-2 comeback victory over the Predators .… Sean Monahan scored one goal and the Flames beat the Kings 4-3. … Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a shootout goal and the

Oilers beat the Ducks 2-1.

FOOTNOTE

Isles give Mayfield contract

extension. The Islanders signed defenseman Scott Mayfield to a five-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season. The deal has an average annual value of $1.45 million, according to Newsday of New York.