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Cole's Goal! Knuble Pots First NHL Goal for Flyers
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- Cole's Goal! Knuble Pots First NHL Goal for Flyers
In a season that has rather quickly become focused on youth and prospects, the Philadelphia Flyers are getting everything they asked for and more from their young guns. That trend continued on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
Flyers rookie forward Cole Knuble, appearing in just his second NHL game playing against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night, became the latest to join the youth movement in Philadelphia, tallying his first NHL goal at the perfect time with his dad, Mike Knuble, watching in the crowd with the family.
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Knowing how Mike lived around the net throughout his 16-year NHL career, Cole scored a goal his pops would be proud of.
With a strong effort barreling through the neutral zone, Knuble pushed the puck deep past superstar defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and top forward Josh Doan, advancing the puck all the way to the right circle before being taken down.
Fellow youngster Denver Barkey corralled the loose puck in support of Knuble, looping backwards and dishing to Oliver Bonk , who unleashed a blast from the point.
Knuble, after he was taken down, got up from the ice surface and raced around the front of Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, tracking down Bonk's rebound and depositing home a backhander into a yawning cage.
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It was the perfect combination of youth for the Flyers from players not named Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov ; Knuble earned his first NHL goal and first NHL point, with Barkey recording his fourth assist of the season, and Bonk his third.
The Flyers are, of course, without injured forwards Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett, and it's notable that Knuble remained in the lineup over someone like Michael Bunting with Tyson Foerster returning from an injury of his own.
If Knuble continues impress, the 22-year-old may leave the Flyers with no choice but to keep him on the roster and make more difficult decisions going forward.
