MONTREAL — Associate coach Kirk Muller wanted the Montreal Canadiens‘ power play to move quicker.

After spending roughly 35 minutes trying to iron out the kinks during Monday’s morning skate, the adjustments paid dividends in a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

To say Montreal’s power play is a work in progress would be understating it. After being woefully bad for three seasons, the summer hiring of Muller as a specialist wasn’t going to be enough to turn it around immediately.

The Canadiens came into Monday’s game having gone 3 for 21 with the man advantage this season. It’s early, and Montreal certainly wasn’t panicking after starting the year 4-0-1, but you could sense that the coaching staff knew the team was playing with fire by not connecting enough with the man advantage.

Muller and Therrien decided to load up their first unit, shifting Alexander Radulov to the point to play alongside defenceman Shea Weber and the team’s top line of Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk and Gallagher.

The move didn’t pay early dividends on their first three power plays against Philadelphia as the team struggled to get the puck up the ice, fumbled at the offensive blue line, and only two of their seven shot attempts made it on target.

But it took all of four seconds for Brendan Gallagher to break through on Montreal’s fourth power play of the night by tipping Radulov’s point shot past Flyers goaltender Steve Mason to make the score 2-1 with 6:52 remaining in the third period. Gallagher won the faceoff back to Radulov who quickly played give-and-go with Weber before charging towards the net and firing.

“When you shoot the puck good things happen,” said Radulov, who finished with an empty-net goal and two assists for the game’s first star honours.

It was a well-earned accolade for the KHL defector who electrified the Bell Centre with his intensity.

Radulov set up the game’s first goal, scored by Weber, and also created several scoring chances for linemates Tomas Plekanec and Artturi Lehkonen. The Russian drew the game’s second penalty with his aggressive forecheck and had five hits in 17:28.

“First of all he’s got a lot of passion, as we all know,” said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. “He’s got so much poise with the puck, he protects the puck really well, and he certainly had a really big impact on tonight’s game.”

Radulov’s only shot on net — aside from the one Gallagher tipped in — put Mason to the test.

If it wasn’t for the Flyers goaltender, this would’ve been a lopsided win for Montreal, which may have only out-shot Philadelphia 33-32 but out-chanced the Flyers handily.

In the waning minutes of the game, defenceman Andrei Markov found David Desharnais all alone in front. The Canadiens centre pivoted quickly, dragged the puck from backhand to forehand and shot immediately. Mason kicked out his right pad and sent the play back towards Montreal’s end.

“His save on (Desharnais) kept them in the game,” said Pacioretty. “That was an unbelievable save.”

The six-foot-four Flyers goaltender was solid and that only reinforced how crucial it was for Montreal to score on the power play.

“He was keeping them in there all game,” said Pacioretty. “If we don’t score on that chance in the third, I’m not sure how this one turns out.”

Therrien said earlier in the day that it’s not just about the goal column, it’s about generating momentum with the power play.

But strong play with the man advantage is also about building confidence, too. And if the Habs can bottle some confidence from finally breaking through as they did on Monday, it will go a long way towards prolonging what’s been an impressive start to their season.

“It’s a broken play, it’s not something you draw up,” said Pacioretty of the power-play goal. “But we have to have a shooting mentality.”

It’s going to take time for the Canadiens to adopt that way of thinking, but it’s clear early on that they’re committed to solving what’s been their biggest problem over the last three seasons.