Cole Knuble scores twice as Philadelphia Flyers beat Buffalo Sabres 3-1

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Philadelphia opened the scoring at KeyBank Center as Cole Knuble converted his first two NHL goals in a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, lifting the Flyers to their third straight victory. Knuble, who had made his league debut on Monday in a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche, scored twice in this game to help Philadelphia secure the result.

Knuble struck first at 14:49 of the opening period, finishing a rebound of a Trevor Zegras point shot from in front. After Oliver Bonk drove the puck from the point, Knuble cleaned up the rebound with a backhand, skating it around the crease and past Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The Flyers extended their lead in the second half of the first period as Trevor Zegras made it 2-0 at 19:17 on the power play. Zegras batted in Matvei Michkov’s shot from the right dot while it was still midair over Luukkonen’s stick.

Buffalo responded with a power-play goal of its own at 19:25 of the second period. Jason Zucker, making his season debut after offseason sports hernia surgery, scored to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jack Quinn fed Zucker in the crease, and the centering pass redirected off the shaft of Zucker’s stick toward Dan Vladar’s left side.

Knuble scored again early in the third period to put Philadelphia ahead 3-1 at 3:03. The goal came after Buffalo defenseman Louis Crevier lost his stick during a puck battle, leaving him unable to defend the Bonk-and-Knuble pairing in the offensive zone. Bonk delivered a short pass to Knuble, who tucked the shot behind Luukkonen’s left leg.

In net, Dan Vladar stopped 27 shots for the Flyers, while Luukkonen made 23 saves for Buffalo. The Sabres’ four-game point streak ended with the loss, finishing their run at 2-0-2.

Philadelphia improved to a 3-6-3 record on the season with the win, while Buffalo fell to 4-4-2. With the victory, the Flyers maintained the momentum from their previous outings, including Monday’s debut for Knuble in a road win over the Colorado Avalanche.