Ersson Seals Deal, Flyers Defeat Canadiens in Shootout

In his Flyers debut, Jamie Drysdale certainly got a taste of how many of the team's recent games have gone. Close, competitive, and requiring extra time.

While Drysdale emerged with an early warm reception from the fan base, the Flyers closed the homestand with a win thanks to their shootout specialist. Sam Ersson allowed goals on both shots he faced in the first period, both on deflections, but shut the door the rest of the way in a 3-2 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

It took just 1:29 for the Canadiens to get on the board. Justin Barron put a shot toward the net that was deflected by Sean Monahan and past a screened Ersson to make it 1-0 Montreal.

The Canadiens made it 2-0 on their second shot of the game. David Savard stepped into a slapshot, and the puck deflected off Morgan Frost before going up and over Ersson at 11:28.

The Flyers finally got a goal back at 15:41. Owen Tippett finished for his 14th goal of the season after a series of cross-ice passes involving Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier to make it a 2-1 game.

Through 20 minutes, the Flyers had a 10-2 lead in shots.

The Flyers kept the pressure on in the second period. Early in the period, they had two shot attempts catch iron, and another opportunity with the puck behind Cayden Primeau in the crease before being cleared out of danger. A power play presented another opportunity, and the Flyers capitalized.

Frost fired a shot from the top of the left circle and beat Primeau for his seventh goal of the season to even the score at two at 8:30. Drysdale got an assist for his first point at a Flyer.

Through two periods, the Flyers had a 17-8 lead in shots.

Both teams added plenty of shots to the total in the third, with the Flyers leading in the period, 15-10, but neither team was able to score, forcing overtime.

The Flyers dominated the overtime as well, getting seven shots to Montreal's one, but Primeau stopped them all to get the game to a shootout.

Couturier scored in the first round for the only goal needed, as Ersson continued his shootout success.

Ersson finished the game with 17 saves on 19 shots in regulation and overtime. Primeau made 37 saves on 39 shots.

In his debut, Drysdale finished with an assist, two shots on goal, one hit, and one blocked shot in 19:46 of ice time.

The Flyers now head on the road for the next three games, starting on Friday night against the Minnesota Wild at 8 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• MTL Sean Monahan (11) (Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle) 1:29
• MTL David Savard (4) (Michael Pezzetta, Juraj Slafkovsky) 11:28
• PHI Owen Tippett (14) (Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier) 15:41

2nd Period

• PHI Morgan Frost (7) PP (Jamie Drysdale, Tyson Foerster) 8:30

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Overtime

• No Scoring

Shootout

• PHI Sean Couturier - Goal
• MTL Nick Suzuki - Miss
• PHI Travis Konecny - Miss
• MTL Cole Caufield - Save
• PHI Bobby Brink - Save
• MTL Jesse Ylonen - Save

Game Statistics

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.