BUFFALO — If you grew up in a South Jersey hockey house like I did, the name on the back of the sweater stopped you cold Wednesday night. Knuble. First period, 14:49 on the clock, a point shot from Oliver Bonk, a rebound sitting in the blue paint, and a kid named Cole Knuble jamming home a backhand for his first career NHL goal.
Mike Knuble’s boy. In the orange and black. With his parents in the stands at KeyBank Center.
Three straight
The Flyers beat the Sabres 3-1, and if you’d told me three weeks ago I’d be writing that sentence with a straight face, I’d have asked what you were drinking. This is a team that opened the season without a win in its first nine games — nine — a start ugly enough to make grown men in Voorhees throw a remote. And now? Three straight wins. Their first road win of the year. A locker room that suddenly believes the schedule is something you can beat instead of something that beats you.
Knuble was the headliner, and deservedly. He made his NHL debut Monday in the 3-2 win over Colorado, and two nights later he’s got a two-goal game. The second one came early in the third, Philadelphia up 2-1, when Bonk — who had a terrific night with two assists — slipped him a short pass and Knuble beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to put it away. The Flyers drafted him in the fourth round, 103rd overall, back in 2023. Fourth-rounders aren’t supposed to be the story. Somebody forgot to tell him.
Fourth-rounders aren’t supposed to be the story. Somebody forgot to tell him.Jake Sullivan
Knuble said afterward that he’s confident in his abilities, which is exactly the kind of thing a 22-year-old says when he’s trying not to float off the ice. He credited his teammates. Of course he did. That’s how it works when it’s working.
Trevor Zegras kept it rolling with a power-play goal late in the first, and Dan Vladar was steady in net, turning away 27 of 28. Buffalo got on the board when Jason Zucker scored in his season debut — he’d been out after offseason sports hernia surgery — but the Sabres never found the equalizer, and their four-game point streak died on Philadelphia’s sticks.
Here’s what makes this run mean something beyond the standings, which still read a modest 3-6-3. Rick Tocchet has been working around a long injury list, and the Flyers have been dressing a lineup heavy on young players early in their NHL careers. Cole Knuble is part of that youth movement, and so is Denver Barkey, who drew an assist on the first goal. When the veterans are in the trainer’s room, somebody has to grow up fast. These kids are doing it in real time, in hostile buildings, and winning.
The kids are growing up fast
Tocchet said afterward that his team still has a lot of work to do. That’s a coach talking, and it’s the right note. Three wins doesn’t erase an 0-9 hole. It doesn’t make the Metropolitan Division tremble. What it does is remind a fan base that effort compounds. You stack a good shift on a good shift on a good period, and pretty soon you’ve stacked three wins, and the room feels different, and a fourth-rounder is scoring twice with his dad watching.
I’ve always believed the best hockey stories live below the marquee — the call-up, the depth guy, the kid who waited. The Flyers are living one right now out of pure necessity, and it’s the most fun this team has been in a month. There’s a lot of season left. But for one Wednesday in Buffalo, a Knuble scored for the Flyers, the orange and black skated off with two points, and South Jersey had a reason to stay up late.
Grab a large regular, two sugars. We’re back in this thing. Barely, stubbornly, but back.
Based on reporting from NHL.com, ESPN, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and Covers.com.