{"id":638240,"date":"2026-05-12T09:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/638240\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:23:12","slug":"mikhail-sergachev-once-blocked-an-alex-ovechkin-slap-shot-and-has-had-to-wear-a-special-elbow-pad-since","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/638240\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikhail Sergachev once blocked an Alex Ovechkin slap shot and has had to wear a special elbow pad since"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Ovechkin<\/a>\u2018s one-timer is the stuff of legend in hockey, as the powerful blast has helped him become the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer over a historic 21-season career.<\/p>\n

While the thunderous shot has dented the twine behind countless goaltenders, it has also inflicted pain on many of the opposing defenders trying to block it. One prime example comes from Utah Mammoth<\/a> defenseman Mikhail Sergachev<\/a>, who told Sport-Express\u2019 Igor Rabiner<\/a> the story of how blocking an Ovechkin shot has forever altered the equipment he wears on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years ago, I cracked my elbow because of his slap shot,\u201d Sergachev told Rabiner<\/a>, as translated via Google Translate. \u201cI\u2019ve been wearing a special pad ever since. We were losing 5-1 or 6-1, and as a young guy, I was sent out on the right side of the ice, playing behind Sasha. I got caught in his shot \u2013 my elbow got huge. They x-rayed it and found [there] was a crack.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play Sergachev references occurred late in a November 11, 2022, game between Ovechkin\u2019s Washington Capitals<\/a> and Sergachev\u2019s Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>. With the Caps coasting to a 5-1 victory, they were put on a third-period power play, and Ovechkin fired away at will, injuring Sergachev and his Lightning teammate, Erik Cernak, on the same shift<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ovechkin first volleyed a missile off Cernak\u2019s ankle, which went out of play and took the big Slovak out of the game. On the ensuing faceoff, he then cannoned another shot, this time taking a bite of Sergachev\u2019s elbow.<\/p>\n

Mikhail Sergachev injures elbow blocking Alex Ovechkin shot<\/p>\n

Sergachev returned to Tampa Bay\u2019s bench and missed the remaining four minutes in regulation. Ovechkin would add insult to literal injury, assisting on a Sonny Milano<\/a> goal just 1:45 later.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things, you know it\u2019s coming,\u201d Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said then. \u201cIt takes guts to stand in front of those. When you take 12 minutes in penalties, you\u2019re bound to eat one of those. That was a little bit of the problem I had: the penalties we took were senseless. Then there are guys who have to go out there and eat those shots. It was a shame on us for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Sergachev\u2019s credit, he missed no games due to his cracked elbow and actually led the Lightning to a 6-3 revenge win over the Capitals just two days later. The Russian rearguard recorded four points (2g, 2a) in the win and skated 24:20 of ice time.<\/p>\n

Rabiner asked Sergachev if any other players in the NHL have a shot that compares to Ovechkin, and while he gave a couple of names, he placed the Capitals captain in his own tier.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, many shoot hard \u2013 (Steven) Stamkos, (Patrik) Laine,\u201d Sergachev said. \u201cBut Ovechkin has something unique \u2013 his choice of spots. That\u2019s where he\u2019s most creative. He sees the goalie moving, and at the last moment, he shoots where it\u2019s inconvenient for him: off-center, under the arm, close to the body. That\u2019s why goalies have such a hard time reading him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the pain and suffering that he caused to Sergachev\u2019s elbow, Ovechkin remains good friends with his fellow countryman. The two exchanged signed jerseys after a game in Utah earlier this season<\/a>, and Ovechkin has become a regular<\/a> at Sergachev\u2019s and Artemi Panarin\u2019s annual \u201cMatch of the Year\u201d charity game in Russia during the summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Ovechkin\u2018s one-timer is the stuff of legend in hockey, as the powerful blast has helped him become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-638240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}