Nashville, TN -- (Sports Network) - Pekka Rinne made 22 saves to record his first shutout of the season, and Joel Ward's goal in the second period lifted Nashville to a 2-0 win over Chicago.

Rinne recorded his eighth career shutout in only his 55th career start for the Predators, who had lost four straight to Chicago, including two this season.

Ward scored his first of the season after tallying 17 last year, as Nashville won for the third time in four games after a six-game losing streak. Jerred Smithson added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

"We're making some strides. We're really happy with this effort," Predators head coach Barry Trotz said.

Dave Bolland led the Blackhawks with four shots on goal, but Chicago had a two-game winning streak snapped. Cristobal Huet stopped 26-of-27 shots to take the hard-luck loss.

"[Huet] played well. He kept us in the game and gave us a chance," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said.

Rinne made six saves in the first period to help keep Chicago off the scoreboard, but none were better than his stop on Kris Versteeg with five minutes left. Versteeg grabbed the puck along the left boards and raced in on a breakaway, but Rinne stopped the forehand shot from in close.

Huet had 10 saves in the opening period to keep it a 0-0 game.

The first goal came with just over five minutes left in the second period, as Nashville was on the power play. Francis Bouillon grabbed a loose puck in the Chicago zone and skated from the point down to the left circle. He fired the puck across to Ward, who simply tipped the puck past Huet for a 1-0 lead.

John Madden picked up a turnover for Chicago in the offensive zone with 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the game, but his shot from a tough angle was stopped by Rinne.

Chicago had a power play for the final 1:47 of the game and pulled the goaltender, but the Blackhawks couldn't put a shot on net.

Game Notes

Rinne had given up three goals on 30 shots against Chicago on October 15. He received the loss...Chicago went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Nashville went 1-for-6...Chicago had scored at least two goals in each of its first 11 games this season.