There weren't many cheers for Pat Maroon's game-tying goal Monday night, but there was at least one pretty big one.

Maroon, the Edmonton Oilers forward, was playing in his native St. Louis against the Blues and knotted the game with a pretty deflection of a Brandon Davidson shot. The crowd reaction was pretty muted, except in one row.
Anthony Maroon, Patrick's young son, was in attendance at the game, wearing his dad's sweater. After the elder Maroon's goal, the younger Maroon's smile had enough wattage to light up every Christmas tree in the area.
After the game, dad got a little emotional talking about the score and his son's reaction.
"It's pretty cool. Pretty emotional," Pat Maroon said, tearing up in a post game TV interview. "I don't get to see him as much. It's pretty special."

Maroon spoke about the difficulty of being on the road so much with a young son last season while he was still with the Anaheim Ducks and how he cherished their daily FaceTime conversations.
"I always look forward to those FaceTime conversations," he told
the NHLPA website
. "It doesn't really matter what we talk about it. It's just that we do get the chance to connect and talk about what's going on in both our lives."
Just days before Christmas, looks like both Patrick and Anthony Maroon got their gifts a little early.