MONTREAL -- The third time turned out to be the charm for Nashville Predators winger Craig Smith.

After he was denied by goaltender Mike Condon's quick glove in the second and then missed an open net in overtime when the puck hit his stick blade on the follow-through of a shot, Smith scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Predators a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.

"It was good to get a chance at it quick again and kind of erase it," he said of his shootout opportunity. "(The overtime chance is) kind of funny now but it wasn't funny at the time."

"I've done that a ton of times in practice," Smith added of the missed overtime opportunity. "It was just one of those things where it happens fast and you've got just got to control it a little better."

With the win, the Predators (28-21-11) leapfrogged the Colorado Avalanche for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Nashville holds two games in hand.

Condon stopped 29 shots for Montreal (28-27-5).

"He played very well and that was a big reason why we were still in that game," Max Pacioretty said. "He shut the door on a lot of great opportunities for them."

Left winger Viktor Arvidsson scored in regulation for Nashville. Right winger Brendan Gallagher connected for the Canadiens.

The Canadiens had a chance to break the ice early in the first when defenseman Nathan Beaulieu broke in on a two-on-one rush with Paul Byron and tossed a backhander through Rinne's pads that sailed through the crease and out.

Soon after, Arvidsson opened the scoring with his sixth of the season. After a brief back-and-forth with center Colin Wilson along the left side, James Neal fired a shot from the top of the left circle. Condon made the save but Arvidsson, battling with defenseman Mark Barberio in front, pounced on the rebound, poking it through the goalie's pads at 3:16.

The Predators held the edge on the shot clock for the better part of the remainder of the period until the Canadiens woke up with a flurry late in the frame.

That ultimately led to Gallagher's tying goal at 18:46. Defenseman Andrei Markov wired a shot from just outside the left circle and Gallagher, parked in front, was there to pounce on the rebound for his 16th of the season.

"It wasn't good enough, I don't think," Gallagher said of the Canadiens' start. "They did a lot of things that we hadn't seen. We had to make a couple of adjustments and we did.

"Early on, I think we were just throwing pucks right to him and then later we were able to skate through the neutral zone with it, do the dirty work and create some turnovers."

The win marked the eighth consecutive road game with at least a point for the Predators, setting a franchise record.

"I think it's just the team play," said goaltender Pekka Rinne of the team's recent road success. "We've been better defensively, playing a bit more of a cleaner game, and not turning the puck over. Just a solid team defense and our penalty kill has been good for us, and that's a big thing, of course."

Rinne made 28 saves for the win.

NOTES: Canadiens RW Dale Weise was a late scratch due to the flu. LW Lucas Lessio, who was supposed to be a healthy scratch, drew back in as a replacement. ... Montreal D Mark Barberio returned to the lineup after three games as a scratch, replacing D Tom Gilbert, who missed the game after sustaining a lower-body injury Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Nashville scratched C Cody Bass and D Barret Jackman. ... The game was the first of a three-game road trip for the Predators, who play the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday. ... The Canadiens face the Capitals in Washington on Wednesday.