Connor McDavid poses with Alex Ovechkin's sons following Edmonton Oilers 7-3 collapse against Washington Capitals

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid shared a special moment with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin’s sons on the sidelines of Sunday’s game. The Capitals scored a thumping 7-3 win over the Oilers thanks to a hat trick from Ovechkin.

The Russian player’s wife, Anastasia Ovechkina, posted a photo on Instagram featuring McDavid posing with her and Ovechkin’s sons, Sergei and Ilya. She also tagged the Oilers player in the post.

(Credit: IG/@nastyashubskaya)

The NHL’s official account also reposted the photo on Sunday, with the caption:

“Connor McDavid (@mcdavid97) took a post-game pic with Ovi's sons,” tagging Anastasia in the caption.

Sunday’s defeat was the Edmonton Oilers' third straight defeat. The Philadelphia Flyers beat them 6-3 on Saturday. The playoff favorites are in a mini-slump, having lost five of their last seven games.

“Just get back to work,” McDavid said via NHL. “Sometimes this happens after breaks; some teams come out flying, some come out flat. We’ve obviously been the latter, so [we’ve] got to get back to our game.”

Oilers center Leon Draisaitl scored the opening of the game during a power play at 1:42 in the first period, before the Capitals put five past goaltender Calvin Pickard. Washington ended the second period with a commanding 5-1 lead.

“I thought it was an excellent start,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Good pace, both teams skating well, chances at both ends, goaltenders made some really big saves. They continued that pace, and we dropped. They were able to just make a lot more plays. They were outskating us and we looked like the slow team tonight.”

Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin spent the NHL break differently

The NHL took a 12-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Connor McDavid was part of Team Canada’s historic triumph at the tournament. He was chosen as the player of the game in Thursday’s final for scoring the winning goal in overtime. Canada won the trophy with a 3-2 win over the USA.

Ovechkin spent the NHL break training and recuperating. The NHL star was spotted training with former teammates and players during a trip to Miami. NHL reporter Sammi Silber posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) of Ovechkin training with former MHL player Darius Kasparaitis.

“Alex Ovechkin is training with former NHL blueliner Darius Kasparaitis in Miami,” Silber wrote in the post on Feb. 14.

The reporter added that Ovechkin had said he was taking advantage of the regular-season hiatus to strengthen his leg and give his bone a chance to heal. Ovechkin missed 16 games this season after breaking his leg on Nov. 18.