Drysdale has assist in debut, Flyers defeat Canadiens in shootout

PHILADELPHIA -- Jamie Drysdale had an assist in his Philadelphia Flyers debut, a 3-2 shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

"I feel like you can't draw it up better," Drysdale said. "Exciting game, great crowd, great fans and came out with the win. So yeah, really good night."

The defenseman was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Monday for forward prospect Cutter Gauthier and practiced for the first time with Philadelphia on Tuesday. He set up Morgan Frost's second-period power-play goal and had two shots on goal in 19:46 of ice time.

"He walked the line really well, really smooth, gets guys to bite and get out of the lanes," Flyers center Sean Couturier said. "He looks good back there. You can tell he's really mobile and has that offensive mind, sees the play really well and that was a nice setup for 'Frosty.'"

Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia (21-14-6), and Couturier scored the only goal of the shootout. Samuel Ersson made 17 saves and stopped three shots in the shootout.

Sean Monahan and David Savard scored for Montreal (17-17-6). Cayden Primeau made 37 saves, and another two in the shootout.

"Talked about it before the game, come out the right way, be ready to play," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "We knew that they were going to be ready to play. They were. You're not going to win too many games when you play 40, 45 minutes of hockey. We made a good push at the end, but I thought we could be a lot better today."

The Flyers tied it 2-2 at 8:30 of the second period on Frost's power-play goal. Drysdale passed the puck to Frost, and the forward's shot from the top of the right circle got past Primeau.

"I think I was getting up the ice pretty good, trying to create as much as I can," Drysdale said. "Things I can work on through video and stuff like that, but overall just getting up and down the ice. Tried to have some good gaps."

It was the third straight game Philadelphia scored a power-play goal, the first time it's done that since Dec. 3-7, 2022. It entered the game No. 31 in the NHL on the power play this season (10.8 percent).

"We're starting to find a little more chemistry and create some plays and chances, guys know where they are," Couturier said. "It's a lot more fun these days than it was earlier in the year. I think we can still build it and be better for sure."

Couturier scored in the first round of the shootout, beating Primeau between his pads.

Monahan put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 at 1:29 of the first period when he tipped a point shot by Justin Barron past Ersson.

Montreal made it 2-0 at 11:28 when Savard's shot from the right point deflected off the stick of Frost and over Ersson's shoulder.

Those were the only two shots of the first period for Montreal.

"We need to protect that lead better," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "We were up two but we weren't playing good. Should make everyone feel a lot better about themselves and with our game, but you just kind of let them back in. Just wasn't good enough tonight. We need to be a lot better."

Tippett scored from the right slot to make it 2-1 at 15:41.

"I liked the way we handled ourselves," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "We needed to reset how we play. Last home game before we go out for three. I just don't think we've been playing fast enough. I don't think we've been direct enough going north. Montreal plays hard, they find a way to stay in games. ... I just liked the speed of our game. That was the most important thing for the coaches, is just to get back to our checking, to allow us to get the puck to go north as quick as possible. And I thought we did it fairly consistently tonight."

NOTES: Barron's assist was his first point in nine games. ... The Canadiens are the second team this season to score on all of its shots on goal in a period; the New York Islanders scored two goals on two shots in the first period of a 3-0 win against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 2. ... Tippett has goals in two straight games after going seven games without one. ... Ersson made his first save at 1:32 of the second period. According to NHL Stats, it's the second-longest stretch from the start of a game for a goalie to make a save this season; Darcy Kuemper of the Capitals went 5:09 into the second period before making a save against the Islanders on Nov. 2.