- Sergei Ovechkin, 7, scored three goals and added a shootout goal at Saturday’s Ovi Cup gala match in Moscow
- Alex Ovechkin managed two of his own as the game finished in an 8-8 tie with Ilya Kovalchuk’s side
- Read below for video of the hat trick and what Ovechkin said about watching his son go off
Alex Ovechkin got outscored by a seven-year-old on Saturday, and he could not have been happier about it.
Sergei Ovechkin put up three goals and tacked on another in the shootout at the annual Ovi Cup gala match in Moscow. His dad managed two. The whole thing ended 8-8 against Ilya Kovalchuk’s team.
The seven-year-old wore an ‘A’ on his sweater at V. V. Shalimov Arena-Mytishchi and skated on a line with Alex and Roman Rotenberg, the general manager of Russia’s national team. Ovechkin had confirmed earlier in the week that the two would play together.
Sergei opened his night by refusing to take the draw. He waved his dad into the faceoff circle instead, laughed about it, then went out and scored. Artemi Panarin and Dmitry Orlov were on the bench barely holding it together.
His hat trick goal came with 4:48 left in the second period. Sergei got a shot past Vasily Koschechkin while falling to the ice, then popped up and celebrated the way he has watched his dad do a few hundred times in Washington.
Watch the video of the goal and the celebration that followed:
Ovechkin was asked by sports.ru’s Alexander Plekhanov what it felt like to watch his son fill the net against grown men.
“A feeling of pride. 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.”
This is the second year running that Sergei has taken the event over. He hung four goals on the gala match in 2025 and outscored his dad then, too.
Saturday was his fourth straight Ovi Cup. He first stepped on the ice in December 2020 and is eligible for the 2036 NHL Draft, which should make everyone feel ancient.
Plenty of talent shared the sheet with him. Andrei Markov, Valeri Kamensky, Maxim Afinogenov, Andrei Nikolishin and Nikita Filatov all took shifts alongside Panarin and Orlov.
Neither side could settle it in the shootout either, so the friendly finished in a draw. Alex now has two summer games in Russia on his ledger after scoring in the Match of the Year on July 25 at SKA Arena.
In past years the Ovi Cup has been his last skate in Russia before he heads back for Capitals training camp.
