The NHL has gotten creative as it resumes the 2019–20 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the league certainly embraced the strange circumstances on Monday night as the Oilers faced the Blackhawks.
Oilers star Connor McDavid secured a hat trick late in the second period on Monday night, scoring a goal that gave Edmonton a 4–3 lead. A hat trick in any other season would result in a frenzied crowd and plenty of caps on the ice. But with no spectators in the stands at Rogers Place—Edmonton's home arena—employees helped liven the mood for the forward's first postseason hat trick.