MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said after the trade deadline that he trusted his players to get their struggling offensive games back on track. Just over 24 hours later, two of them did just that.

Paul Byron snapped a 13-game goal drought when his shot squeaked through Pekka Rinne's pads with 8.3 seconds left in regulation to lift the Canadiens to a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal (36-21-8), which won in regulation for the first time since Jan. 31.

"It's a relief for sure," admitted Byron, who scored just his third goal in his last 26 games. "You can do a lot of good things, but when you get the breaks, you play with a lot more confidence.

"It was good to get that one. It's been a while and to help the team win, it was huge to get those two points tonight."

Ryan Ellis, who left the game in the second period with what appeared to be a leg injury and did not return, replied for the Predators.

Byron battled with Matt Irwin at the Nashville blue line before getting by the defenseman to break in alone on Rinne.

Rinne, who made 24 saves, thought he had control of the puck, but it trickled through his legs, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

"My D partner came around and I tried to chip it over to his stick and it hit his shaft," said Roman Josi, who tried to send the puck to Irwin. "It's my fault; I've got to make a harder play."

Carey Price made 24 saves for the Canadiens, who won their fourth straight.

The loss snapped the a four-game winning streak for the Predators (32-23-9) and a five-game point streak. It was also just the third time in the last 11 games that Nashville limited its opponent to two goals or fewer.

"I thought it was really good," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said of his team's defensive effort. "I thought we gave up very little. The first goal was from behind the goal line.

"The third period, I thought we generated chances, I don't think we gave up much at all. We made a mistake on the last goal."

After an early Montreal power play resulted in nothing, the Canadiens had a chance later when Tomas Plekanec negated a Predators clearing attempt before dishing off to Andrew Shaw for a scoring opportunity in close.

Some quick passing by Nashville led to Mike Fisher setting up Kevin Fiala for a chance alone in front, but the 20-year-old airmailed the puck well over the net.

The Predators' power play continued to click to put the visitors ahead at 18:25 of the first period. Nashville won a battle behind the net before getting the puck to P.K. Subban at the point, who fed Ellis at the top of the left circle.

Ellis' night was ultimately cut short in the second period when he had to be helped off the ice midway through with what appeared to be a leg injury.

A defensive miscue by the Canadiens opened the door to a Predators three-on-one, but Jordie Benn got his stick in the way just in time to deny an opportunity.

Fiala had yet another good chance later in the second when his shot trickled through Price, but hit the far post before Montreal cleared it from the crease.

Gallagher tied at 10:55 of the third period when his wraparound attempt went in off Irwin. The goal snapped a 10-game drought without a goal for the struggling winger.

"I don't really like looking at goals and assists all that much," he said, "but I know that I need to score more goals. I'm not going to do that if I change my game.

"You can call me insane, call me whatever it is, but I believe that if I just continue to do the same things over and over again, eventually I'll get bounces like I did tonight. Found a way to sneak one in and hopefully we can continue that."

NOTES: The Predators let former Canadiens D P.K. Subban take a solo lap on the ice during warm-ups, drawing loud cheers and chants of "P.K.! P.K.!" from the crowd. ... Just before puck drop, the Canadiens honored Subban with a video featuring highlights from his six years in a Habs uniform. ... Montreal scratched C/W Brian Flynn, C Steve Ott, LW Andreas Martinsen, D Nikita Nesterov and D Brandon Davidson. ... Nashville scratched C Colton Sissons, LW Harry Zolnierczyk, RW Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (injured), D Anthony Bitetto and D Brad Hunt.