Connor McDavid notched his first ever playoff hat trick to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, tying their best-of-five qualifying series at one game apiece.
McDavid scored 19 seconds into the game, then off an electrifying solo rush just past the four-minute mark, and once more on the power play late in the second period at Rogers Place Monday night.
Given that the rink was fan-free to prevent the spread of COVID-19, arena staff hustled down the stairs and honoured hockey tradition by tossing ball caps over the glass and onto the ice to mark the hat trick.
Game 3 goes Wednesday night.
The fans, if there had been any, would barely have settled into their seats when McDavid, standing in the slot, opened the scoring when he took a bouncing loft pass from Darnell Nurse and redirected it into the net over the shoulder of Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford.
At the 4:05 mark, McDavid knocked down a stretch pass in full stride at centre ice and with his trademark world-class speed, turned on the jets, blew past Chicago defenceman Olli Maatta on the backhand and barrelling full speed toward the goalpost, flipped the puck up and over the short-side left shoulder of Crawford.
with files from (The Canadian Press)