Photo credit: @JonnyRoot_
By Pearl Allison Lo
The San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton lost a piece of his beard to kick off the game and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended the shootout in the sixth round to win, 3-2.
Thornton and Nazem Kadri got feisty right from the start, dropping the gloves just two seconds into the game. Kadri pulled out a piece of Thornton’s beard, which was a sight to see on the ice and in Sharks goalie Aaron Dell’s glove.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews scored in the beginning of the shootout, Kevin Labanc tied it at two in the third round and Tyler Bozak went up high to score the game-winner in the shootout.
Both goalies were stellar. Martin Jones stopped 26 shots for the Sharks and Frederik Andersen made 33 in a losing effort for the Leafs. The fact that Andersen’s final stop of the game was against Chris Tierney was the cherry on top, as Andersen had previously turned over the puck to Tierney in the second, resulting in a goal.
The Sharks were more known for their penalty kill, but the Maple Leafs’ continued to look top-shelf, shutting out their last three opponents: 0-for-3, 0-for-3, and 0-for-5, respectively.
Toronto not only ended their three-game losing streak, but a 10-game one against the Sharks.
Though, not as swift as the beard fight, the two first-period goals also occurred in quick fashion at the end of the period.
Matthews scored his team-leading 18th goal at 18:37, redirecting Connor Carrick’s point shot. William Nylander got the second assist.
Brenden Dillon scored his first of the year 31 seconds later off a faceoff win. Brent Burns and Timo Meier set up Dillon’s play.
Toronto’s special teams worked on both ends. Despite the Sharks drawing three straight penalties, Kadri scored the first and only special teams goal of the night at 12:40 of the second during a four-minute high-sticking minor against Burns. It was Kadri’s first goal since November 30. He had also just missed two games prior to his return last game. Mitchell Marner and Morgan Rielly contributed to the goal.
San Jose re-tied the game when Tierney, a Keswick, Ontario native, was gifted the puck. After a faceoff, the puck went straight to Andersen, with Tierney hearing straight down the slot as well. It was a well-timed push as Andersen’s second touch went away from him and then Tierney scored to Andersen’s left.
One of Andersen’s saves included a point blank save versus Joe Pavelski on the tail end of a bit of a 2-on-1 with Thornton in the third.
Jones made three saves within 22 seconds, two of them just five seconds apart with less than five minutes left.
The last regulation shot came from the Maple Leafs’ Jake Gardiner with three seconds left on the clock.
In overtime, Marner’s high stick on Tierney ramped up the intensity as the Sharks got a four-minute power play of their own at 3:10. Pavelski, Burns and Logan Couture each had overtime shots on goal with Pavelski taking a wide shot as well.
In the shootout, after Matthews, the turns went to Burns, Couture, Marner, Pavelski, Labanc, Nylander, Joonas Donskoi, James van Riemsdyk and former Shark Patrick Marleau. Like Bozak, Tierney also shot up high, but his puck hit the crossbar.
Game notes: San Jose had five games in December that went beyond regulation.
The Sharks won faceoffs (52%-49%), hits (30-16), blocks (13-12) and giveaways (8-17).
Up next: San Jose will try to get full points when they face the Ottawa Senators Friday at 4:30 pm PT.
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