It was a dream come true for Ottawa Senator Egor Sokolov Saturday.

The 22-year-old rookie was in the right place at the right time when Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak stumbled and handed him the puck. Sokolov took a few strides towards former Senators’ goalie Brian Elliott and deposited it five-hole to notch his first NHL goal, which stood up as the game-winner in his club’s 7-4 win.

In his third outing with the Senators this season and 11th in his young career, Sokolov felt a sigh of relief to finally get his due, “Yeah, absolutely. It’s like a monkey off the back. And honestly, I can’t believe it still doesn’t feel real for me. I know I’ve got 100 messages right now and I know it still feels like a dream.” the native Yekaterinburg, Russia said postgame.

Sokolov who possesses a shoot-first mentality and rarely dekes made a split-second decision to add it to his arsenal, “To be honest with you, I changed my mind five or six times, and at the last second I completely blacked out. If you ever see me go on a breakaway, I never go five-hole. And for some reason I went five-hole today, so worked out and I’m happy about it.”

General manager Pierre Dorion wanted to get Sokolov into five to 10 games this season, but with the Senators and the club’s American League affiliate, Belleville making pushes towards the playoffs, it didn’t occur earlier.

Now the six-foot-three, 222-pound forward must make a strong impression in his limited time to earn a contract for next season. Sokolov is a pending restricted free agent who will require waivers if he was to be assigned to the farm team in 2023-24.

It’s been a long road for Sokolov to get to this point.

Passed over in two NHL Entry Drafts, the Senators took a flyer on selecting the Cape Breton Screaming Eagle 61st overall in 2020 after Sokolov notched 46 goals in only 52 games to lead the Quebec Major Junior League in 2019-20. His 92 points ranked tied for third.

Sokolov’s production increased immensely over his previous two campaigns when he registered totals of 21 goals, 42 points and 30 goals, 57 points.

Not only was Sokolov bypassed after his first two eligible Draft years, but he also received up-close looks, participating in development camps for the Colombus Bluejackets and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sokolov is affable and endearing wherever he goes. He’s not afraid to display his personal side to fans and media alike.

Dubbed “Sharkalov”; after hearing “Baby Shark” played over the loudspeakers when he returned to the Senators’ bench, Sokolov said “I kind of teared up a little bit. I won’t lie to you guys. It was awesome. It doesn’t feel real for me right now.”

Sokolov’s milestone goal came mere hours after being named Belleville’s Most Valuable Player. Sokolov currently leads the team in scoring, posting 19 goals and 36 assists in 67 games to date.

In a team release, BSens interim head coach David Bell added, “He leads the team in points, so that makes him an obvious choice. He plays with emotion and drags other into the fight with that emotional investment in the group and he’s an ultimate human being and humanitarian. We should be proud as an organization to use him as a model of how our players should act at the rink and in the community.”

Bell’s words ring true as Sokolov is a leader in the Belleville community, actively participating in school visits, the local Santa Claus Parade; not to mention wearing a clown costume for the Belleville Rotary Club’s “Clowns for Kids” fundraising parade per the team in a release.

For this Sokolov was also named Belleville Senators 2022-23 Man of the Year.

Sokolov is all about giving back. While living with his billet family, the Ryan’s who owned a grocery store in Cape Breton, Sokolov conducted deliveries to those shut-in during covid.

On Sokolov’s selection as Man of the Year, Bell noted in the release, “He goes way above and beyond the team-mandated public appearances. Fans, kids in particular, gravitate towards him (I know my kids do) just because he’s so open to talking to people. He’s down to earth and will talk to anybody. He’s a great, solid human being.”