It was 10,791 days between the two, but Cole Knuble’s first National Hockey League goal on Wednesday night completed a circle of sorts for himself and father (and former Flyer) Mike Knuble. The elder Knuble — watching his son score his first in the stands with family — scored his first NHL goal on April 5, 1997 at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Garden as a Detroit Red Wing.

With just over five minutes left in the opening period, Cole Knuble drove to the net, found a loose puck from an Oliver Bonk shot, and flipped a backhand just over the pad of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Knuble celebrated by doing a quasi-Foligno leap into the boards, a celebratory jump former Sabre Mike Foligno did back in the ’80s. The goal opened the scoring and proved to be a great reward for a youngster who is playing quite fearless so far a handful of games into his NHL career.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW, COLE KNUBLE!!#PHIvsBUF | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/2vsFbZiJSo

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2026

As if that wasn’t enough, Knuble added a second tally early in the third period. With Buffalo scoring late in the second to make it a 2-1 lead for the Flyers, Knuble had a tremendous shift about three minutes into the third. After battling for the puck behind the net, Knuble and his linemates kept the play alive just inside Buffalo’s blueline. Getting a pass from Bonk, Knuble looked to be skating behind the net with the puck when he deftly tossed it back towards the goal, where it bounced off Luukkonen’s skate for the youngster’s second goal of the game. And his career.

THE COLE KNUBLE GAME.#PHIvsBUF | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/tczdnI7QFz

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2026

Minutes later, Knuble was back in Luukkonen’s kitchen, nearly burying another for a hat trick. And he was also on the ice late in the third with Buffalo’s goaltender pulled for a sixth skater. Knuble held his own, but not before being rocked again, this time by Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin, while trying to clear the puck. If there’s any knock so far against Knuble, it’s that he is getting rocked far more than need be. After getting nailed by Colorado’s Josh Manson and getting right back up, Knuble has seen himself clocked more than anybody needs to see. Prior to the Dahlin hit, Knuble also took a shot from Beck Malenstyn. Obviously, they didn’t hurt him, but putting himself in somewhat vulnerable positions might be something he needs to be mindful of moving forward.

Nonetheless, as if that wasn’t impressive enough, he had a 78.09 expected goals percentage, just behind Denver Barkey (79.03) and Jacob Gaucher (79.33). In short, Knuble provided a spark, and kept this three-game winning streak rolling along quite smoothly. Regardless of the shift, Knuble was almost never on the wrong side of the puck in any zone, and did what needed to be done to either keep Buffalo back in their own zone, or get the puck further away from Dan Vladar (who was stellar on Wednesday night).

It might have been a case of being at the right place at the right time. But Knuble has been one of a handful of youthful sparkplugs that have managed to get Philadelphia off the mat and back into the hunt in terms of a wildcard spot. Knuble also joined six other Flyers who had a multi-goal game in their first or second NHL game. Vinny Prospal was the latest before last night to do it back in 1996-97, with Todd Bergen, Dave Poulin, David Michayluk, Greg Adams, and Al Hill the others.

“You feel so excited for the kid, and then he gets another one,” head coach Rick Tocchet said after the Buffalo win. “I think we all know he had a really good training camp, and he stuck with it, went down there. He had a great attitude, and obviously great things are happening for him.

When asked about Knuble’s mindset, Tocchet said Knuble did the same thing in these first two games he did during training camp. “He came in like he wanted to make the team. And he deserved it, I know he had some numbers, he deserved to make the team. What I liked is he didn’t pout. He went down there, Snowden did a great job with him and he helped us seal this one.”

The only reason why Knuble is up with the Flyers at this time is due to multiple injuries to key forwards for the Flyers as Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett are currently out, and Tyson Foerster just returned from his absence on Wednesday night. Knuble took full advantage of that opportunity and thanks to this breakout performance, he could certainly stake a claim that he deserves to stay with the Flyers even if everyone on the roster is of full health.

Knuble celebrates his big game with his family

Obviously, the name on the back means something in Philadelphia and with his dad in the crowd for his second game, Knuble was able to put away the game.

The father and son duo of Mike and Cole were interviewed after the game by the TNT panel, with Mike acknowledging that had his son pocketed his third of the night for the hat trick, his cap would’ve been tossed on the ice. “It would’ve been really awkward if I was the only guy (throwing the hat), it would’ve been like I was streaking going down there throwing the hat,” Mike said, adding he stole the hat from his son previously.

“It’s crazy, I’ve been a fan of this team my whole life,” Cole said regarding his first two goals. “I’m just grateful to be a part of this organization, they’ve been great to me since the day I got drafted, so I’m glad I can contribute.” The younger Knuble added he couldn’t remember much of his first goal as it seemed like a blur. The interview ended with Cole’s mom entering the picture to give her son a hug.

Knuble also earned the team’s Rocky-inspired boxing gloves after the win, something that began after Philadelphia’s first victory of the season against Ottawa on Saturday night.

Hit ’em with the 1-2. pic.twitter.com/9pH2nrcGdj

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 22, 2026

Stats courtesy of NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.