Rookie forward Cole Knuble scored twice to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Wednesday night in Buffalo, N.Y. Knuble, playing his second career game, scored his first two goals in front of his father, former NHL forward Mike Knuble, who played 1,068 games with five teams. He became the first Flyers player with a multigoal game within the first two games of his career since Václav Prospal in 1997.
Trevor Zegras also scored and Dan Vladar made 27 saves to give the Flyers their third straight win after starting 0-6-3. Jason Zucker made his season debut following sports hernia surgery and scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 23 shots for the Sabres, who are 1-1-2 in their last four games. Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin returned to the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
The Flyers grabbed a 2-0 lead late in the first period after Knuble's first career goal at 14:49 and a power-play goal from Zegras at 19:17 when he batted a rebound of Matvei Michkov's shot out of the air past Luukkonen. Zucker's power-play goal at 19:25 of the second cut it to 2-1. Knuble's second of the game 3:03 into the third made it 3-1 after he banked in the puck off Luukkonen's skate.
Both teams are in action again Saturday. The Sabres open a four-game trip against the Washington Capitals, while the Flyers return home to host the Anaheim Ducks.
Source: ESPN NHL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing