Jamie Drysdale scored the Philadelphia Flyers' first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday, and Trevor Zegras set it up. The second-period assist helped Philadelphia beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round.
The goal was the kind of moment Drysdale and Zegras once seemed destined to share in Anaheim, only in a different uniform. Philadelphia traded for Drysdale on Jan. 8, 2024, and brought in Zegras on June 23, 2025, moves that turned two former top-10 Ducks picks into Flyers teammates 17 months apart. Drysdale, selected sixth overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, and Zegras, taken ninth overall in 2019, reached the NHL during the 2020-21 season about a month apart.
Drysdale called it a full-circle moment after Zegras fed him for the opening goal, a payoff for a season in which the defenseman matched his personal best with 32 points in 78 regular-season games and scored eight goals. He also finished at plus-2 in even-strength goal differential, the best mark of his six NHL seasons. Zegras said Drysdale is the kind of skater he gets jealous watching because it is not fair for him and everyone else, and said the defenseman had taken another big step this year on the ice and off the ice.
That progress has been part of why the Flyers believed Drysdale could be more than a promising name from the draft. Rick Tocchet said his aggression, feet, technique, surfing ability, stick and breakouts helped the Flyers, while Drysdale credited the staff and teammates for the confidence and constant reassurance that have made the season feel smooth and tight-knit. The irony is hard to miss: the Ducks expected both players to help drive a rebuild, but injuries and separate trades sent them to Philadelphia before they could become that for Anaheim.
Drysdale said once he was traded, he figured that was probably it for the rest of their careers together, which made Saturday feel even bigger. Instead, the two found each other again in the playoffs, and the Flyers got the kind of early contribution that can settle a series. If Philadelphia is going to keep advancing, the pair's chemistry is no longer an old idea from another roster. It is part of what the Flyers have now.
