Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri has a reputation for getting under a player's skin and now has added one for getting under a player's facial hair.
The first part didn't take long at all on Thursday night as Kadri and San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton fought two seconds into the game in Toronto.
Both were kicked out of the opening faceoff after slashing at each other and then began jawing at each other. Once play resumed and the puck was dropped, they threw down their gloves and went after each other.
"One thing led to another and not by any means did I really expect that, but things happen," Kadri told reporters. "He asked me, he initiated. I felt he came across with the slash to begin and gave me another shot, I just gave him one back. We just started talking going to the wing position and, I mean, he insisted on going. I felt like I answered the bell."
Thornton, 38, got the better of the quick fight, but Kadri managed to pull off part of the Sharks star's long beard.
"I have no idea, 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 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."
Kadri later added his 14th goal of the season, and first since Nov. 30, as the Leafs won 3-2 in a shootout to end a 10-game losing streak against the Sharks.
