Sergei Ovechkin steals show in NHL All Star Skills Competition

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals teamed up in the Breakaway Challenge at the NHL All Star Skills Competition. But they turned to Ovechkin’s son Sergei to win the challenge.

Ovechkin also participated in the Hardest Shot challenge but was unable to defend his 2018 title. In his first attempt, he missed the net completely while his second one clocked in at 95.1 miles per hour. Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks would with with a 103.2 mile per hour shot.

Back to the Breakaway Challenge where four year old Sergei Ovechkin stole the show. At center ice with recently retired PK Subban, Ovechkin and Crosby each signed his jersey and then Crosby suggested PK should get one more signature, that of Ovi Jr.

Ovi Jr. then went down the ice with his father and his rival on a 3 on 0 breakaway and Sergei finished it off on Roberto Luongo. It was adorable and it won over the judges as the trio received 10’s across the board.

They would go on to win the Breakaway Challenge, something Ovechkin hasn’t done since 2008 and 2009. They edged out David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers, and Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ovechkin was asked after the event about his son being a lefty. He said, “Yeah I know. But it is what it is. Nothing I can do. I tried.”

He also said that Ovi Jr. practices his game all the time. “He’s working all the time in the house. Skating. Shooting. Play. Watching the games and the highlights. He’s crazy about hockey.”

Kevin Weekes of ESPN asked Sergei if he was having a good time as his dad translated it. Ovi Jr. said “YESH!”.

Today the NHL’s best will take center stage at the NHL All Star Game. Puck drop is at 3 p.m. on ABC and be sure to check out the Ovechkin documentary GR8NESS, appearing an hour before the game on ABC.