Sergei Ovechkin put together another MVP performance at the annual Ovi Cup gala match.
Sergei, age 7, played on the same team as his dad, the legendary Alex Ovechkin, age 40, in what turned out to be his second straight hat trick game at the event. Sergei, wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey as alternate captain, scored three goals and another in the shootout at Moscow’s V. V. Shalimov Arena-Mytishchi while his dad netted two in what turned out to be an 8-8 tie against Ilya Kovalchuk’s team.
Ovi Jr. started on a line with his dad and Roman Rotenberg, the general manager of the Russian national team and the CEO of SKA St. Petersburg. He scored his first goal after refusing to play center, laughing as he made his dad take a faceoff instead.
Sergei Ovechkin scores first goal during Ovi Cup gala match
Sergei notched his hat trick goal with 4:48 remaining in the second period. He fired past the opposing team’s goaltender, Vasily Koschechkin, while falling to the ice, then celebrated as he has seen his dad do many times in the NHL with the Washington Capitals.
Sergei Ovechkin scores hat trick goal during Ovi Cup gala match
Sergei, a 2036 NHL Draft-eligible hockey player, has been playing youth hockey for a couple of years now, having first stepped on the ice in December 2020. Saturday’s game was the fourth in a row that he has skated in at the Ovi Cup.
“A feeling of pride,” Ovechkin told sports.ru’s Alexander Plekhanov of watching his son score, as translated via Google Translate. “A feeling of joy. Of course, I’m nervous, because he’s playing against men. He’s so fearless, always eager to get on the ice, so I’m only happy for him.”
After the game ended in an 8-8 tie, the two teams went to a shootout. Although Sergei also scored in the skills competition, the two teams could not be separated, as each team had two players score, officially ending the friendly match in a draw.
Sergei Ovechkin scores shootout goal in Ovi Cup gala match
The father-son duo was joined on the ice by star-studded lineups that also featured Artemi Panarin, Dmitry Orlov, Andrei Nikolishin, Andrei Markov, Nikita Filatov, Valeri Kamensky, Andrei Kovalenko, and Maxim Afinogenov.
Saturday’s game was Ovechkin’s second this summer, following his appearance and goal in the “Match of the Year” on July 25 at SKA Arena. In past years, the Ovi Cup has been Ovechkin’s last official on-ice action in Russia before he returns to DC for Capitals training camp.
