NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the Carolina Hurricanes, it was a satisfying result in an early season full of road trips and losses.

For the Nashville Predators, it was another loss in an early season that has met precisely no one's expectations.

Jaccob Slavin's tally on the last attempt of a shootout Saturday night gave Carolina a 3-2 victory at Bridgestone Arena, sending the Hurricanes back home for a stretch where they play six of their next seven at PNC Arena.

Goalie Cam Ward came up with 25 stops for Carolina, which built off its 2-1 overtime loss Tuesday night in Ottawa with a solid performance after a shaky first period in which it allowed a whopping four breakaways.

"Obviously, another tight game on the road," said left wing Jeff Skinner. "We came away with two points, which is big. It was a good road game in Ottawa and we built off the positives of that one. Cam came up with some big saves."

Looking nothing like the goalie who entered the night with a 3.33 goals-against average and unimpressive .882 save percentage, Ward (2-3-2) denied three of Nashville's first-period breakaways, conceding only James Neal's second goal of the season at 9:44.

Ward also came up clutch in overtime, making saves on good scoring chances by Viktor Arvidsson early and Filip Forsberg late. In the shootout, he stoned Craig Smith, Ryan Johansen and Forsberg.

Then Slavin, a defenseman, followed failed opportunities by Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen by beating Pekka Rinne (2-4-3) with a wrister as the Hurricanes (3-4-3) won for the first time in four games decided after regulation.

"He held the fort when we hung him out there in the first period," defenseman Ron Hainsey said of Ward.

Hainsey did his part to help Carolina earn two points, too. With partner Justin Faulk in the penalty box after hooking Neal, Hainsey equalized the game at 8:22 of the third period with the first shorthanded goal in his 845-game career, taking Elias Lindholm's pass and beating Rinne with a wrister from the slot.

"No matter how you do it, you're going to have to score goals to win," Hainsey said. "We were getting them early and now it's dried up a bit. We won with two goals tonight, which is a credit to Ward for great goaltending."

While the Hurricanes were celebrating the performance of Ward, the Predators (3-5-3) lost for the sixth time in seven games, following up a 1-2-2 road trip with another inconsistent outing.

Nashville came into this season with high hopes, and it still has time to meet its lofty goals, but can't afford to spend too much more time searching for the right combination.

"It's concern where you're at," Predators coach Peter Laviolette admitted. "It's not good enough, that's the bottom line. We've got to continue to work to get better. It's frustrating."

Nashville bogged down completely midway through the second period, Carolina hemming it into its defensive zone for around three minutes and forcing Laviolette to use his timeout after an icing call to buy a breather for his team.

Shortly after that, Skinner tied the score with a wrister from the left faceoff circle that struck the left goalpost and caromed into the net for his sixth goal at 13:25.

But the Predators managed to carry a 2-1 lead into the third period as defenseman Matt Irwin's wrister from the blue line found the net through heavy traffic at 17:05. It was the third goal in as many games for Irwin, who has dressed just five times in 11 contests.

However, Nashville couldn't add to its lead and it caught up to it in the end as the Hurricanes, playing their seventh one-goal game of the season, made the necessary plays to earn the result.

"You have to step up and make plays at the end to win these games and I thought that's what the penalty kill did," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "You go to overtime and you've got your point, and you look for the other point. Tonight, we got it."

Rinne collected 23 saves for the Predators, losing for only the second time in eight career games against the Hurricanes.

NOTES: Carolina RW Lee Stempniak played in his 800th NHL game, getting the start on the first line with C Victor Rask and LW Jeff Skinner. ... Nashville C Mike Fisher (upper-body) missed his second straight game after being injured in Tuesday night's 5-1 win at Colorado. ... The Hurricanes scratched D Klas Dahlbeck, D Jacub Nakladal and LW Bryan Bickell. ... Predators scratches were D Matt Carle and LW Harry Zolnierczyk.