The Edmonton Oilers have won 14 games, in a row, but rookie head coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t taking anything for granted. The Oilers played their two worst periods during this streak v. Columbus on Tuesday. Knoblauch switched his lines for the third period and they responded with three goals and won 4-1. Knoblauch has been very consistent with his line combinations since taking over, but he is going to stick with his third period lines to start tonight.

It is the right decision.

“We played our two worst periods in a long time,” said Leon Draisaitl. “We regrouped in the third and that is what good teams do sometimes. We didn’t have it in the first 40 minutes, but we turned it on a bit and ended up winning the game.

Knoblauch is making the change because he felt things were getting stale.

“Often I think, we as coaches overreact and changes things too quickly, when it really is up to the players to figure it out,” said Knoblauch. “There are times you are changing things up for a matchup or strategy, but last game, ultimately we just needed a change. We were stale. We needed to change things up, and they responded and we won. So we will stick with those lines to start.”

It makes sense. The Oilers haven’t lost since December 20th. They are 14-0, and I like that Knoblauch isn’t waiting for a loss to get his player’s attention. And it isn’t like the changes will be viewed as a negative. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl enjoy playing together, and McDavid, by his standards, has been rather quiet offensively. He isn’t playing poorly by any stretch, but he’s gone eight games without a multi-point game. That is the longest stretch of his career since his rookie season.

Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Warren Foegele are more than capable of scoring, and Dylan Holloway has looked great since his recall. Playing him with Ryan McLeod, who has been red-hot during the winning streak, could be the foundation of a solid third line down the stretch.

No team keeps their lines together all season, and I think the change will ignite the Oilers who haven’t played as well the past few games of the streak. Why wait until they lose to try and jump start them? Knoblauch likes continuity, but he also would like to see a few different combinations, so he can go to them in the playoffs, or down the stretch if needed.