Alex Ovechkin had his first big day out since returning home to Russia.
The Washington Capitals‘ captain, who is contemplating retirement or coming back for a 22nd NHL season, attended the Russian Cup Superfinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Ovechkin, alongside his wife Nastya and two sons Sergei and Ilya, was joined at Sunday’s match by a couple of familiar faces: former Capitals teammate and longtime friend Dmitry Orlov and fellow Russian NHLer Mikhail Sergachev.
According to Ovechkin’s official Telegram account, the legendary winger presented a charity check for 8 million rubles (~$112k) to the Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation before the match, an organization that
Ovechkin and his kids also kicked around a soccer ball on the side of the field pregame. The Great 8 has long had a love of soccer, even playing in a friendly match for Dynamo Moscow in 2022.
Ovechkin seemingly met up with Orlov earlier in the day to do some shopping with Ovi’s good friend Gus.
Orlov has spent the past three seasons away from Ovechkin after the Capitals dealt him to the Boston Bruins at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He is signed on for one more season with the upstart San Jose Sharks after playing his first with the club this past year.
The match between Spartak and Krasnodar turned out to be an exciting one as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw, with Argentine Pablo Solari scoring for Spartak in the 37th minute and Brazilian Douglas Augusto scoring for Krasnodar in the 57th minute.
With the two teams deadlocked at one goal apiece, they went to a penalty shootout to determine the eventual winner. Spartak went 4-for-4 with their attempts as Krasnodar failed to score on two of their five attempts, making Spartak the Cup victors.
As the winners, Spartak earned the right to play the 2025–26 Russian Premier League champion, Zenit Saint Petersburg, in the 2026 Russian Super Cup.
