David Perron acknowledged the mood in the locker room with the Pittsburgh Penguins has a much more positive vibe than what he experienced with the Edmonton Oilers, largely attributing that to each club's place in the standings.

It's his former team that's had more to celebrate lately, though.

The slumping Penguins hope to have Evgeni Malkin back as Perron makes his return to Edmonton on Wednesday night.

The Oilers (14-28-9) have the fewest points in the Western Conference and replaced fired coach Dallas Eakins with Todd Nelson on Dec. 15, shortly before trading Perron to Pittsburgh (28-14-8) on Jan. 2.

After recording career highs of 28 goals and 57 points in his only full season with Edmonton in 2013-14, Perron had five goals in 38 games this season before being dealt for Rob Klinkhammer and a first-round pick in this summer's draft.

Perron, who was used in various situations with the Oilers, said he feels more comfortable with a set role on Pittsburgh's top line with Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Perron has six goals in 12 games since the trade.

He's gone without a point in his last three, though, and the Penguins fell to 2-4-2 over their last eight with Sunday's 4-0 loss to Nashville. They've been shut out twice while being outscored 9-2 over their last three.

Marc-Andre Fleury, 1-4-1 with a 3.63 goals-against average in his last six starts, allowed two goals to the Predators in the first seven minutes.

"I think the start obviously hurt us," Crosby said. "We made some mistakes that end up in the back of our net and then we're playing uphill from there. We still had a lot of time to get back into the game, but we have to find a way to score goals."

Malkin should be able to help. He had three goals and seven assists in his previous eight games before suffering a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the last five. He participated in practice Saturday and skated on the second line with Patric Hornqvist and Mark Arcobello at Tuesday's practice in Edmonton.

Coach Mike Johnston is hoping Malkin can play as Pittsburgh begins a three-game road trip through Canada.

"He looked good out there," Johnston said. "He skated well for four, five days on his own. He had a lot of jump out there with the team."

Edmonton is feeling upbeat during a 4-2-0 stretch, including a 5-4 win at San Jose on Monday as Klinkhammer scored in the 13th round of the shootout.

Viktor Fasth, who starts again tonight, made 33 saves and 12 more in the shootout in place of Ben Scrivens, who had started the previous two.

"We showed a lot of resiliency, a lot of character, and that's great for us," Klinkhammer said. "I got the call and got lucky enough to score one. It was a big two points for us, and we'll take it."

The Oilers led 3-1 entering the third period before allowing three straight goals, then Justin Schultz tied it with 2:37 left. Jordan Eberle scored twice after finishing with a goal and an assist in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Calgary, when Edmonton allowed each goal in the final 20 minutes.

"In the third periods, we've got to find a way to clean it up," Eberle said. "It seems like we're playing a little scared and hesitant. Hopefully we can find a way to close teams off."

Eberle assisted on both of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' goals, including the winner, in a 4-3 overtime victory over visiting Pittsburgh in the most recent meeting Jan. 10, 2014.

Projected Oilers lines

Pakarinen - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Yakupov - Roy - Purcell
Hendricks - Gordon - Klinkhammer
Fraser - Lander - Gazdic

Klefbom - Schultz
Ference - Petry
Aulie - Fayne

Fasth  (starts)

Penguins Projected Lines

Kunitz - Crosby - Perron
Arcobello - Malkin - Hornqvist
Downie - Sutter - Spaling
Sill - Lapierre - Adams

Martin - Letang
Scuderi - Despres
Bortuzzo - Harrington/Pouliot

Fleury (starts)