McDavid makes history in season opener!

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers opened up their season Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames, in what would be this year's inaugural Battle of Alberta.

Mike Smith, acquired over the offseason for goaltender Chad Johnson, defenseman Brandon Hickey and a conditional third-round pick, was solid in the matchup. He kept his team in the game, stopping a whopping 42 shots out of 44 on net.

Naturally, it was young phenom Connor McDavid who beat him twice. The star forward then netted his third goal of the game on an empty net, effectively completing the hat trick.

As it turns out, this is only the second time in the league's modern era that a player scored a hat trick on opening night.

Connor McDavid is second in NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) with a natural hat trick in a season opener (Radim Vrbata on Oct. 3, 2013). pic.twitter.com/Kodu9XxKlX
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 5, 2017

The Oilers ended up winning this one by a score of 3-0, giving goaltender Cam Talbot a shutout - which, believe it or not, is only the second time in franchise history that an Edmonton goalie posts a shutout in the season opener.

Cam Talbot became second goalie in @EdmontonOilers history to post a shutout in season opener (Nikolai Khabibulin, Oct. 7, 2010). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/yMaCQSms8b
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 5, 2017