Cole Knuble scores first 2 NHL goals as Flyers beat Sabres

The first goal was a rookie play from start to finish. Knuble carried the puck into the zone, Oliver Bonk fired, and Knuble was right there to bang home the rebound and put Philly up 1-0.

Spittin' Chiclets

@spittinchiclets

GRAB THAT PUCK! Cole Knuble has his first career NHL goal 🚨

Denver Barkey got the secondary assist, so the whole sequence came from young guys. Knuble's parents were in the building to see it, and a kid who grew up rooting for this team got to celebrate his first one in orange and black with his family watching. You can't really write it better than that.

Then he scored again. With Philly holding a 2-1 lead, Knuble beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make it 3-1. That was the final, so his 2nd goal held up as the insurance in a 2-goal win. The beat writers didn't think much of the goal Luukkonen gave up.

Matthew Fairburn

@MatthewFairburn

Cole Knuble gets another goal to put the Flyers up 3-1. That's a brutal goal for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to allow there.

This wasn't supposed to be his week. Knuble is 22 and was a 4th-round pick in 2023. He nearly made the team out of training camp, then got called up from Lehigh Valley along with 2 other forwards because Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny are all hurt. He debuted Monday against Colorado. 2 nights later, he has 2 goals and the Flyers have won 3 straight, all against good teams.

That's where the questions start for the rest of the roster. With Knuble and Bonk carrying more and more of the scoring, Kevin Kurz pointed out who's been missing from it.

Kevin Kurz

@KKurzNHL

Some of the older/mid-20s Flyers should probably take notice of what guys like Knuble and Bonk are doing lately

That's a pretty blunt shot at the veteran core, and it's fair. If a 4th-rounder on an injury call-up and a young defenseman are driving play while the established guys hang around, the coaching staff is going to notice. Knuble isn't keeping the spot warm anymore. He's earning more minutes.

The family angle goes deeper too. Mike Knuble played 362 games for the Flyers, playoffs included, across stints from 2005-09 and again in 2013, and he was a net-front goal scorer his whole career. Cole had already talked with Kurz about the one hat trick his dad ever had.

Kevin Kurz

@KKurzNHL

Mike Knuble had one career hat trick. Cole told me last month what he remembered about it:

Cole is 1 goal short of matching that, and he's 2 games into his career. Tippett, Foerster and Konecny will eventually come back, and that's when the Flyers have to decide what to do with him. For now he's doing everything he can to stay in the lineup.