Rookie forward Cole Knuble scored the first two goals of his NHL career on Wednesday night, and the Flyers beat the Sabres 3-1 in Buffalo. The AP report, carried by Yahoo Sports and ESPN, said it was Knuble's second career game. It also said his father, former NHL forward Mike Knuble, was in attendance. The elder Knuble played 1,068 NHL games with five teams.
The box score backs up how much Knuble did in limited minutes. He played 10:24 over 17 shifts, mostly at even strength, and had a team-high-tying four shots. He finished plus-2. Trevor Zegras scored the other Philadelphia goal. Jason Zucker scored Buffalo's only goal. The line score has Philadelphia up 2-0 after the first period, Buffalo cutting it to 2-1 in the second, and the Flyers adding the third goal in the third. None of the coverage we have says when each goal was scored, so we won't say which of the three came when.
Philadelphia won despite going 1-for-5 on the power play. Buffalo took seven penalties for 25 minutes, 17 of them from Mattias Samuelsson. The Sabres were 1-for-3 with the man advantage. Shots were close, 27 for Buffalo and 26 for Philadelphia. Dan Vladar stopped 26 of 27, a .963 save percentage, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 23 of 26 for Buffalo.
Our season table hasn't caught up with the game yet. It shows Knuble at one game played and no goals or points, which is his Monday outing against Colorado with one shot and no points. The two goals Wednesday are the first of his regular-season career.
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The win is Philadelphia's third in a row: 3-1 over Ottawa on Saturday, 3-2 over Colorado on Monday, and now this one. The Flyers are still 3-6 and sixth in the Metropolitan Division, so the streak has only started to close a gap. Buffalo is 4-4 and seventh in the Atlantic. It has lost two straight, 4-3 at Montreal on Saturday and now this game, after a 5-4 win at Toronto on October 15.
Both teams are on the road or at home Saturday, October 24. Philadelphia hosts Anaheim, looking for a fourth straight win, and Buffalo visits Washington. The reporting doesn't say whether Knuble stays in the Flyers' lineup, so that's what to watch against the Ducks.
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