Mark Giordano drops the gloves with Dakota Joshua.

Toronto Maple Leafs veteran defenseman Mark Giordano showed that he is not a man to be trifled with on Saturday night.

In the opening minutes of the game, the 40 year old Giordano challenged the National Hockey League's leading hitter in Dakota Joshua to drop the gloves, and arguably got the better of the much younger man.

The exchange was kicked off when Joshua landed a punishing hit on Maple Leafs forward David Kampf, one that Giordano clearly took exception to. It was only moments after Joshua made contact with Kampf that Giordano issued his challenge and both men dropped the gloves.

There was hardly any offense on the part of Joshua who was tied up pretty good by Giordano, who had a death grip on his jersey, with Giordano also throwing the vast majority of the punches in this one. The officials attempted to step in early but Joshua waved them off by yelling "no" and that decision would lead to him eating arguably the best shot of the fight, a stiff right hand from Giordano that rocked Joshua's head back.

A pretty good showing from the 40 year old against the NHL's leading hitter.