Perhaps all the Maple Leafs needed was an opening faceoff fight to get them fired up. Maybe when 6-foot,190 pound Nazem Kadri ended up with a chunk of Joe Thornton's beard in his hand, he garnered confidence from taking on a 6-foot-4, 220 pound center and messing up his esteemed facial hair.
Whatever the reason, the Maple Leafs ended their three-game losing skid Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Sharks. Kadri snapped his scoreless streak, netting a goal for the first time since Nov. 30, following his brawl with Thornton.
"I have no idea how that happened," Kadri said on getting tangled in Thornton's beard during the fight. "I thought I was a hockey player and not a barber. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't mean to grab him there. He's a big boy, I couldn't reach all the way across his shoulder and felt like I just grabbed him in the middle of his jersey and just came down with a handful of hair."
The brawl two seconds into the game ignited a fire in Kadri's team from puck drop through a full 65 minutes and into the shootout.
“[Kadri] isn’t afraid of anybody. You’ve seen him fight some guys who are a lot bigger than him and he definitely holds his own,” said Auston Matthews. “He’s one of our key players, so when you see somebody – especially off the start – drop the gloves with a big guy like Thornton it kind of gets everybody going.”
Congratulations to Joe Thornton on getting his first career on-ice beard trim! pic.twitter.com/VGg2TwFaIX
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 5, 2018
After whiffing on a Chris Tierney shot that resulted in the game-tying goal, Frederik Andersen stopped five of the Sharks' six shootout attempts. Playing his 100th game as a Maple Leaf, Andersen stopped 35 shots, rebounding from his middle period gaffe with notable poise.
The Leafs shut down San Jose's notorious No. 2 ranked penalty kill, going 5-for-5 and extending their streak to three straight games without allowing a power-play score (11-for-11). Despite being outshot by a 35-28 margin in all situations and 29-18 at 5-on-5, Toronto took its first home victory against the Sharks since 2002 in the process.
"It's not by accident they're starting to really pick up some steam," said head coach Mike Babcock of San Jose. "I was looking – we've lost a bit more than they have. We've got more wins, but they haven't lost very often because they know how to play. It was a good test for us. We need to get going at home, we need to get some momentum."