Morgan Geekie got Carolina within 2-1 at 9:07 when he scored at the left post off a backhand pass by Steven Lorentz.
"It was kind of a broken play," Geekie said. "[Max McCormick] tried to take a shot, and his stick broke, unfortunately. But I ended up in the right there. I just tried to get open, and [Lorentz] kind of drew the defender and made a nice play through him, and I was just lucky enough to be in the right place in the right time and get it up over [Saros'] pad."
Erik Haula scored into an empty net to make it 3-1 with 1:03 remaining.
"We've had our ups and downs and a tough start to the year, kind of on the outside looking in," Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "The guys, the coaches, management, everyone, we still believed, and we buried our heads and went to work."
Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin did not play after the first period because of a lower-body injury.
"We definitely took him out [as a precaution], but there was definitely something that he tweaked," Brind'Amour said. "A little bit alarming there, for sure. This is exactly what you wouldn't want to happen in these kind of games. We'll know more tomorrow, but I'm hopeful that it's nothing too serious."
NOTES: The Predators' 14 playoff appearances since 2004, when they qualified for the postseason for the first time in their history, are tied with the San Jose Sharks for the second-most in the NHL behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have made it 15 times in that span. ... Nashville's streak of seven straight seasons qualifying for the playoffs is tied with the Washington Capitals for the second-longest in the NHL, behind the Penguins' run of 15 in a row. ... The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have the other playoff berths from the eight-team Central. ... Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook participated in the morning skate but did not play. He has missed nine games because of a lower-body injury.