Flyers takeaways: Dan Vladař and the ‘kids’ continue to drive the team’s turnaround

BUFFALO ― After an ice-cold start, the Flyers are sizzling.

On Wednesday, they extended their winning streak to three with a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Here are two things to know from the win.

In Monday’s win against the Colorado Avalanche, the Flyers played 11 skaters age 25 or younger, and five who played for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League last weekend. On Wednesday, the Flyers again deployed 11 skaters 25 or younger, with Tyson Foerster re-entering the lineup after missing Monday’s game with a hand injury and David Jiříček sitting.

Injuries may have necessitated the youth movement, with Owen Tippett (upper-body injury), Travis Konecny (lower body), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), and Cam York (upper body) on injured reserve, but the kids are showing they are ready, notably top-pair defenseman Oliver Bonk, 21, who continues to play calm and composed beyond his years and added a pair of assists Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Cole Knuble grew up watching his dad, Mike, play for the Flyers. Now, he’s living out his own NHL dream on the same ice.

On Wednesday it was Cole Knuble’s turn.

Skating in his second NHL game, the 22-year-old, drafted in 2023 with Matvei Michkov, 21, Denver Barkey, 21, and Bonk, notched his first two career goals. The first came on a play where he won a battle in the neutral zone to get the puck into the offensive zone.

After Barkey provided puck support, Knuble charged to the net and flipped Bonk’s blocked shot behind Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. What were the emotions of scoring his first career goal? “I don’t remember after. So a lot of emotions. Let’s just say that,” said the 5-foot-10 forward, who is clearly not afraid to go to the dirty areas like his dad and former Flyers forward, Mike Knuble, did so successfully. Mike, who played parts of five seasons and scored 118 goals for the Flyers, was gushing about his son at KeyBank Center after the game.

In the third, as the Flyers continued to press up 2-1, he was thinking of going for the wraparound but saw Luukkonen off his post and, although he said he was trying to put it back to the middle, it went off the goalie’s skate and in.

“I’ve put a lot of work in over the years. ... I’m confident in my abilities. It’s obviously a jump up, best players in the world. I’m playing with really great teammates, too. So obviously those guys have been great for me,” said Knuble as his teammates crowded around the back of the locker room waiting to celebrate his breakout night.

One of the teammates waiting was Trevor Zegras, 25, who batted in the puck after a Michkov shot during a power play for the Flyers’ second goal. Jamie Drysdale, 24, registered his first point of the season on the tally. Defenseman Hunter McDonald also had a big game, registering six hits, including a crushing neutral zone one on Ryan McLeod, before dropping the gloves with Mattias Samuelsson, the son of former Flyers blueliner Kjell Samuelsson.

“It’s very infectious. ... They love coming to the rink,” coach Rick Tocchet said of the young kids leading the charge. “They love putting their gear on; it’s not a chore. It’s nice to see that. This is a game you should love to play, and they enjoy it. They love being around each other.”

Remember when Dan Vladař allowed seven goals in the first game of the season on Sept. 30? That feels like a decade ago now.

Between his second start on Oct. 5 and Wednesday, when he allowed one goal on 28 shots, Vladař is 2-2-1. He is tied for fifth in the NHL in save percentage (.921) and ranks 11th in goals-against average (2.38) among goalies who have played in at least four games.

» READ MORE: Matvei Michkov’s improved skating has fueled his torrid start: ‘I want to play, and I want to support [the] team more’

“Just solid,” Tocchet said. “Him and [Joseph Woll], they’re just solid. We’re getting great goaltending every night. Vladdy, he’s a battler. He just battles. Just when you think they’re going to [score], they had a weak side shot there; he was over [there] to make that stop. That was a couple of big saves.”

This game could have gone off the rails early with the Sabres, according to Natural Stat Trick, putting 10 high-danger chances at the net in the first period among their 16 shots and 27 shot attempts. Instead, Vladař turned them all aside, including stoning Noah Östlund’s between-the-legs try as he crossed atop the crease, stopping Tage Thompson’s wrister from down the gullet, and making a big-time pad save on Rasmus Dahlin.

Vladař could also thank his post, which thwarted a shot by Zach Benson on a short-handed chance in the second. But he also made big saves, thwarting a chance by Josh Doan, using his blocker on an Owen Power snapshot, and turning aside a quick shot by Doan from 21 feet out.

The only puck that got past him was one he never had a chance on as a Jack Quinn shot-pass went off the body of Jason Zucker to the right and behind him during a power play.

In the third period, the Flyers did not sit back. They owned 54.8% of the shot attempts and created 11 of the 16 scoring chances, including seven of the high-danger variety. However, with the Flyers up 3-1 and the Sabres’ net empty, he made saves on several shots over the final 93 seconds, including a massive pad save on Quinn.

“Yeah, I don’t know when it happened,” Tocchet said, “but I think Vladdy said a couple things — we were OK there for a while, they were kind of making a press — and he said, ‘Come on, boys, we need five-man units every shift.’ After he said that, I think they only had 10 shots like the last half of the game. So that’s the sort of stuff that leaders do, that Vladdy did, and the guys took that to heart.”

» READ MORE: The Flyers are banking on Dan Vladař being the answer to their goalie prayers. It’s a bet worth making.