Oilers' Patrick Maroon petting an opponent's beard is the most NHL thing ever

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Edmonton Oilers forward Patrick Maroon did what everyone else has always wanted to do Monday: he pet Brent Burns' burly beard.

The San Jose Sharks defender got tangled up with Maroon with 3:37 remaining in the second period. After the second-stanza scrum, they were laying on the ice and Maroon took his right hand and reached for Burns' beard. He embedded his fingers into the facial hair and tugged three times while the two were talking.

Burns didn't seem to mind, as he let Maroon caress his magnificent facial feature on his foe's frozen floor at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

"It was one of those things where it was just in my face and I decided to pull his beard," Maroon said, according to NHL.com. "I thought he was going to be mad at first, but he said, 'Hey, do you like the beard?' and I said, 'Yeah, it's a pretty nice beard.'" 

Maroon nailed a slap shot at the 8:23 mark in the final period, beating Sharks net minder Martin Jones for a score. The Oilers (15-17-2) came out of the contest with a 5-3 win against the Sharks (17-11-4).

Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl and Marcus Sorensen scored for San Jose.

Ryan Strome scored twice for the Oilers, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mark Letestu also lit the lamp in the win.

Maroon also had an assist for the Oilers. He tallied 27 goals last season.