With a four-goal outburst against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, Alex Kovalev made sure it wasn't a thriller of a finish at Scotiabank Place. Then the Ottawa Senators forward showed the fans and his teammates how to 'beat it' in a pair of hockey skates.

Yes, those Michael Jackson references (did you find them?) are entirely intentional. Because, of course, if you were at SBP for the game, you know Kovalev displayed his version of the moonwalk after being named the game's first star. And it wasn't exactly a spur-of-the-moment thing.

"It started in Pittsburgh, when I started to score hat tricks, and it just came to me," Kovalev said when asked about the inspiration behind it all. "Everybody waited for hat tricks and all my friends kept calling and saying 'when are you going to have a hat trick? We want to see the moonwalk.'"

Some of them were quick to remind him about it -- or lack thereof -- when Kovalev netted his first three-goal game of the season on Dec. 12 against the Carolina Hurricanes against Scotiabank Place. That also earned him a first-star nod, but he left something out afterward.

"I didn't do (the moonwalk) and 20 or 30 of my friends were disappointed," he said. "It was like 'how come we didn't see your famous moonwalk?' So this time, after I scored a few goals, there was a lot of talk about whether I would do it or not. Finally, I just decided to do it."

Does he need any practice? Hardly.

"My kids (Nikita and Ivan) love Michael Jackson," said Kovalev. "So it didn't take long to learn the moves."

His teammates liked what they saw, too.

"I think it's pretty well done," said a grinning Jarkko Ruutu. "I think what makes it even better is the white skates. It's special."