With the Edmonton Oilers mired in a two-game losing skid, head coach Kris Knoblauch made some changes to the team’s forward lines at practice on Monday.

Moving down to the fourth line with Mattias Janmark are wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Brown. Heading up to the third line to play alongside Adam Henrique were Jeff Skinner and Kasperi Kapanen.

The top-six remained the same as it was when the Oilers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 4-3 on Saturday. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were together on the top line with veteran Corey Perry and the second line featured Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with Viktor Arvidsson and Zach Hyman on his wings.

Podkolzin scored three goals in the first half of January but the Russian winger went ice-cold in the latter part of the month. He’s gone without a goal in his last eight contests and has a minus-eight rating over that span.

Brown’s scoring slump dates all the way back to December. He scored in three consecutive games in the middle of the month but has gone 21 games without finding the back of the net since.

The hope for the Oilers is that Skinner and Kapanen can help unlock some offence from their third line. Adam Henrique scored six goals and nine points in 22 games with the Oilers last season after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks. Through 52 games this season, the team’s third-line pivot only has seven goals and 15 points.

The Oilers also need to get more scoring from their second forward line. Arvidsson only has two goals in 15 games since the calendar turned to 2025, which isn’t enough for a player making $4 million annually. Skinner has scored twice in his last three games and might get a look in the top-six if Arvidsson doesn’t start to produce.