Ilya Kovalchuk has done quite well for himself since he ditched the New Jersey Devils and the NHL and returned to Russia to play for SKA Saint Petersburg in the KHL.

In 294 career KHL games, Kovalchuk has 123 goals and 294 points, which is a little eerie considering he retired from the NHL with 816 points in 816 games.

The Gagarin Cup got underway on Saturday and even though SKA opened up the series with a victory, Kovalchuk didn’t get off to the greatest start.
 

The vicious elbow from Kovalchuk came late in the 2nd period with his team up 3-2 and Metallurg Mg capitalized on the man advantage to tie things up at 3.

Kovalchuk received five minutes and a game misconduct for his elbow to his opponent’s head, but there’s no update as to whether or not he will face a suspension for his actions.

(H/T YouTube/KHL)