Cole Knuble Scores His First Two NHL Goals as the Flyers Win a Third Straight, and the Call-Up Is Earning a Longer Look

Cole Knuble needed two NHL games to score twice. The Philadelphia Flyers rookie, recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley on Monday because of a pileup of forward injuries, scored both of his first career goals in a 3-1 win at Buffalo on Wednesday night. Trevor Zegras added a power-play goal and Dan Vladar made 27 saves as Philadelphia won its third straight game and its first road game of the season.

The Flyers are now 3-6-3 after a franchise-worst winless start, and the win came with six regulars on the injured list. Knuble, the son of former Flyers forward Mike Knuble, is the kind of depth call-up who usually goes back down once the roster heals. Two goals in his second game make that a harder decision for coach Rick Tocchet, and they put his name on the radar of deep-league fantasy managers.

The news

Knuble opened the scoring at 14:49 of the first period, backhanding a rebound of an Oliver Bonk point shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Zegras made it 2-0 on the power play at 19:17 of the first by batting a rebound out of midair. Jason Zucker, making his season debut after offseason sports hernia surgery, cut the lead in half with a power-play goal late in the second, but Knuble restored the two-goal cushion 3:03 into the third when Bonk slid him a short pass in front.

Per NHL.com, Knuble is the seventh rookie in Flyers history with a multigoal game within his first two NHL games, and the first since Vinny Prospal in 1996-97. Bonk was involved on both Knuble goals, and Matvei Michkov recorded his 70th career assist, passing Bill Barber for seventh-most by a Flyer age 21 or younger.

How Knuble got here

Philadelphia took Knuble in the fourth round, 103rd overall, in 2023 after he was passed over in his first draft year and then scored 30 goals for the Fargo Force of the USHL. He spent three seasons at Notre Dame, putting up 39 points as a sophomore and 31 (nine goals, 22 assists) in 36 games as a junior, before signing a two-year entry-level contract that begins this season. He opened 2026-27 with Lehigh Valley, where he had a goal and a few assists before the call.

The recall on Oct. 19 came alongside Alex Bump, and both dressed that night against Colorado. NHL.com's projected lineup for Buffalo had Knuble on a fourth line with Bump and Denver Barkey, which matches the trio he debuted with. His father played 338 games for the Flyers, and per the Philadelphia Inquirer, the two became the first father-son pair to play for the franchise when Cole debuted Monday.

The Flyers' injured list

Knuble's opportunity exists because Philadelphia's forward group has been gutted. NHL.com's pregame report listed six injured players before Wednesday's game, and Tyson Foerster, who had missed Monday's win, was a game-time decision.

Tocchet acknowledged after the game that a lot of players are out and others are earning bigger minutes. The good news for Philadelphia is that the team has played closer to its identity over the last three or four games, per Tocchet, and the results back that up. The bad news for Knuble is that every one of those injured forwards will push a depth player out of the lineup when healthy, and Konecny and Tippett are both top-six players.

Fantasy fallout

Knuble is a deep-league add only. Fourth-line minutes in the low-to-mid teens and no confirmed power-play role do not support a standard-league roster spot, no matter how good the box score looked. In dynasty and keeper formats, though, he is worth a speculative pickup: a 2023 fourth-round pick who scores in his second NHL game and has drawn praise from the organization has a path to a bottom-six job this season. In daily fantasy, he is a minimum-salary punt in large tournaments when the Flyers have a soft matchup.

Oliver Bonk is the more interesting name for points-league managers in deep formats. The rookie defenseman was involved on both Knuble goals and has been skating on the top pair with Travis Sanheim in NHL.com's projections. With York and Ristolainen hurt, his minutes should hold.

Michkov saw his three-game goal streak end, but he recorded an assist and remains Philadelphia's goal leader with six entering Wednesday. Zegras scored on the power play and was tied with Michkov for the team lead in points entering the game. Both are must-starts. In goal, Dan Vladar has now steadied the team through a three-game winning streak; he and Joseph Woll form the tandem, and Vladar is the one to stream while he is hot.

Betting angle

The Flyers were near the bottom of the standings two weeks ago, and markets price teams like that cheaply. Three straight wins, including a road win in Buffalo, are a sign that the team has stabilized defensively while its regulars recover, and Buffalo's Lindy Ruff pointed to his own team missing too many nets as part of the loss. Philadelphia remains a below-average roster on paper while this many forwards are out, so the case for backing the Flyers rests on goaltending and structure rather than offense. Unders in Flyers games are the cleaner angle than moneyline value while the forward corps is this thin.

Buffalo fell to 4-4-2, ending a four-game point streak. Rasmus Dahlin returned from a three-game absence and played a team-high 26:27 with four shots, and Zucker's return adds depth to the Sabres' power play.

What's next

Philadelphia's next game is a Saturday afternoon home date with the Anaheim Ducks, per published schedules. The key question for Knuble is not whether he plays Saturday, since the injuries make that likely, but what happens when Foerster and the IR group return. Tippett went on IR Monday, and Konecny has been on IR since Oct. 11.

For fantasy purposes, Knuble is a name to watch rather than a priority add. If his ice time climbs toward 15 minutes or he gets a look on the second power-play unit, he moves into the deep-league conversation for real. If he stays on the fourth line, enjoy the story and look elsewhere for production.