Cole Knuble scored the first two goals of his brief NHL career to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3–1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Wednesday night.
The Sabres came out strong and dominated much of the first period, but Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Philadelphia found its rhythm late in the period, opening the scoring at 14:49. Knuble netted his first NHL goal by backhanding in the rebound from an Oliver Bonk shot that Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had initially kicked out.
Trevor Zegras made it 2–0 with a power-play goal at 19:17. The Flyers took advantage of Buffalo’s struggles on the penalty kill when Matvei Michkov drove to the net and fired a shot. Luukkonen made the first save, but the rebound popped into the air, and Zegras knocked it into the net.
Buffalo cut the deficit to 2–1 with a power-play goal late in the second period. At 19:25, Jack Quinn found Jason Zucker in front of the net, and Zucker jammed the puck past Vladar for his first goal of the season.
Knuble restored the Flyers’ two-goal lead at 3:03 of the third period, tucking the puck into the net from behind the Sabres’ goal. His second goal of the night sealed the 3–1 final.
The Sabres return to action Saturday night when they travel to Washington to face the Capitals.
