EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Nashville Predators got a pleasant surprise and a welcome addition on Friday night when star defenseman PK Subban returned to the lineup after missing the last 15 games with a herniated disc in his back.

And the news only got better from there as the Predators marked the occasion by beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout a few hours later to sweep the province of Alberta.

They beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 just 24 hours earlier.

"They're a good team, but I think we wanted to build off our win yesterday and right from the start, we came out hard," said Subban, who played 22:53 and finished plus-1 in his first game back in more than a month. "We executed and did exactly what we wanted to do. I felt we were the better team today."

Oilers coach Todd McLellan reluctantly agreed on both counts -- that Nashville rode the momentum from Thursday's win in Calgary to get the early jump on Edmonton and that the Predators were just a little better.

"We were on our heels a lot," McLellan said. "That was a game that probably favored the team that played the night before. They were a little bit quicker than we were and a little bit harder.

"I thought we could have been better in those areas, but we found a way to get a point and maybe that's what we deserved."

Subban said it felt great to be back and his presence did seem to provide a boost for a team playing the fourth game of a five-game trip.

"I felt OK. It's been about five, maybe six weeks that I haven't been in a game," he said. "It's been a while, but I felt pretty comfortable out there.

"I think sometimes I probably could have done a little bit more, but I just wanted to keep the game simple today and get my feet under me and just build slowly. When our team's playing as well as they are, there's no need for anybody to do anything special."

Ryan Ellis and James Neal scored the shootout goals after Oilers winger Milan Lucic snapped a 12-game goal scoring drought by tying it 2-2 at 15:29 of the third period and sending Edmonton to overtime for the 16th time this season.

But the Predators, who outshot Edmonton 42-24 in regulation, would not be denied.

"I've liked every game on the road trip so far," Preds coach Peter Laviolette said. "What's really impressive about it, when you play the night before, it's a little bit of a disadvantage, you get a team that is sitting here waiting for you, you're in their building, and you're dealing with other things as well, a late night and travel.

"And they (Oilers) have a heck of a hockey team too, so it was a real good effort."

The Preds had five power plays in the first 30 minutes of the game but didn't score until Viktor Arvidsson got one at even strength at 17:12 of the second period. But they only held the lead for 41 seconds before Oilers winger Matt Hendricks put a wrist shot between Pekke Rinne's pads to tie it 1-1.

Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis gave the Predators a 2-1 lead 6:55 into the third period, but they couldn't hold off the Oilers, who converted a power play of their own after Austin Watson retaliated on Lucic for a clean hit behind the Edmonton net.

The Oilers, who sit seven points up on the Predators and the Flames, missed their chance to pad their lead a little.

"The main thing is (not winning)," Lucic said. "It was a bit of a taste, or lesson, of what playoff hockey is going to be like. Tight checking and you don't get a lot of chances.

"We're happy to get the point, but moving forward I think we learned a lesson and have to be better in games like this."

NOTES: Predators G Pekka Rinne is 16-6-2 against the Oilers. ... Edmonton recalled RW Anton Lander from the AHL as insurance up front after Jujhar Khaira injured his wrist last game against Florida. ... Lander has 27 points (14 goals) in 16 AHL games and four points in 20 games with the Oilers ... Edmonton D Matt Benning was back in the lineup after missing the Panthers game with the flu. ... Nashville D Roman Josi is still out after suffering a concussion against Boston on Jan. 12. He could be back next week. ... The Oilers lost all three games to the Predators last season and scored just three goals. ... Preds C Mike Fisher has six power play goals, which puts him in the top 15 in the NHL. ... Oilers C Connor McDavid is the fourth-fastest active player to reach 100 points, doing it in his 92nd game. Only Alex Ovechkin (77), Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89) did it faster.