Knoblauch showing magic touch as Oilers coach

EDMONTON -- Kris Knoblauch appears to be pressing all the right buttons as coach of the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton is 30-9-0 since Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12 and has been successful in finding productive line combinations seemingly on a nightly basis.

Knoblauch shuffled the deck in the third period of a 6-3 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, and it would not be surprising if he tweaks things again when the Oilers host the Boston Bruins at Rogers Place on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, SNE, SNW, SNP, TNT, MAX).

Edmonton (33-18-1) has won three of its past four games. Boston (33-12-11) is tied with the New York Rangers for second in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Florida Panthers.

"Usually, you're thinking of what's worked in the past and who's playing well at that moment," Knoblauch said after the win Monday. "And it's good for the coach to be prepared but also, it's not a good sign if the coach is too prepared and has a backup lineup and I don't want to get into the habit of changing things up.

"But we got outplayed in the second period. We were slow to pucks. They really carried the play in the second period, and we just needed a little something to change things up."

Trailing 3-2, Edmonton scored four goals in the third for the come-from-behind win. Evander Kane scored twice after he was placed on a line with Leon Draisaitl and Ryan McLeod, after starting the game next to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. Connor McDavid slid between Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the third, and the line produced the go-ahead goal 26 seconds after Kane tied it 3-3.

"Obviously the first two periods, there wasn't a ton of offense created; we had the one goal on the power play and just one even-strength goal," Kane said. "Both the line switch ups, both units have played together for long stretches of the season, so it was nothing really new for us, but it obviously gave us a little bit of a spark and it paid off."

With McDavid and Draisaitl, two of the best offensive players in the NHL, at his disposal, Knoblauch is in a unique position of being able to play the two stars together when necessary.

In desperate times, Knoblauch has the tendency to do what his predecessors did and play McDavid with Draisaitl on the same line, which was the case in a 4-3 overtime win at the Dallas Stars on Saturday, when recently acquired forward Corey Perry was added to the unit. The Oilers went into the game off a 6-3 loss at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

McDavid and Draisaitl each assisted on Perry's goal at 6:55 of the second to tie the game against the Stars 2-2. It was first time three Hart Trophy winners were involved on the same goal since Jan. 8, 1948, when Elmer Lach, Rocket Richard and Toe Blake did it for the Montreal Canadiens.

Perry won the 2011 Hart Trophy with the Anaheim Ducks when he was voted most valuable player in the NHL; Draisaitl won it with the Oilers in 2020, and McDavid in 2017, 2021 and in 2023.

"It's pretty fun," Perry said when asked about playing with McDavid and Draisaitl. "They're two tremendous players, they see the ice really well. I was a beneficiary on the goal, Leon making a great play cross-seam and Connor finding me back door. Two world-class players."

Perry has given Knoblauch another piece since signing a one-year, $775,000 contract with Edmonton on Jan. 22. The 38-year-old veteran started the season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but they announced in a statement Nov. 28, they intended to terminate Perry's contract after an internal investigation determined he had "engaged in conduct that is unacceptable and in violation of both the terms of his standard player's contract and the Blackhawks' internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments."

During his introductory media availability in Edmonton, Perry took responsibility for having his contract terminated in Chicago and said he received counseling from mental health professionals, who helped get him back on the ice. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in eight games with the Oilers and has been used on a variety of different lines.

"I thought he was really good," Knoblauch said after the win in Dallas. "You know those two guys (McDavid and Draisaitl) they usually like to have the puck and they're usually on the outside looking to make a play and you need somebody at the net front. [Hyman] has been really good at that, but we felt to balance our scoring that Corey would be an excellent complement to Leon and Connor and (Saturday) I thought it was a good game from all three of them."

Despite the success of the three, who combined for five points against the Stars, Knoblauch split them up against the Coyotes with hopes of getting other players back on the score sheet.

It worked. McLeod had an assist and Warren Foegele scored, ending a nine and eight-game point drought, respectively.

"It's always so fun playing with those two (Draisaitl and Kane)," McLeod said following the win. "They're so big and strong. They get you the puck in the right areas and I'm just trying to use my speed and get open and we were lucky to get a couple."

Edmonton did not practice Tuesday, so there was no early indication of how the lines would be set up against Bruins. Regardless, Knoblauch has shown he is not afraid to make changes on the fly when required, like he did in an 8-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 13 prior to the Oilers departing on their three-game road trip. Edmonton scored five goals in the third to break a 3-3 tie and McDavid finished with an NHL career-high six assists.

"He has a great feel for the game," McDavid said after the win. "He is a calm presence on the bench; I think you guys (media) can see that. He wasn't loving where the game was going and sometimes you need to tweak it a little bit. I thought his little tweaks worked, and that is the sign of a good coach."