Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Alex Radulov and Rich Peverley scored in the shootout for Nashville, as the Predators beat Chicago, 2-1, and picked up valuable ground in the Western Conference playoff race.

Patrick Kane and Peverley were successful in the first round, with Chicago shooting first. But Predators goaltender Dan Ellis made the stop on Jonathan Toews' wrist shot to start the second.

Radulov took advantage of the opportunity, sliding the puck between Nikolai Khabibulin's pads to give Nashville the 2-1 edge. Then Ellis stopped Patrick Sharp by sealing off the right side of the net with his left pad, and locked up the win.

Jason Arnott scored in regulation for the Predators, who improved to 82 points on the season and moved to within two of Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Avalanche lost a wild game in Edmonton on Saturday, 7-5.

"I'm not thinking about anything right now. I'm still excited from the win today," Radulov said. "These are important points for us. We know that Colorado lost, and that shootout was huge for us."

Ellis turned aside 37-of-38 shots in regulation and overtime, including some game-saving stops in the extra session to usher the game to the shootout, and help Nashville win for just the second time in seven games.

"It gave us a tremendous lift on the bench, seeing him make great saves," Peverley said. "He shut down three or four prime scoring opportunities for Chicago, so he played a great game."

Andrew Ladd scored in regulation for Chicago, which has lost two of three. Khabibulin stopped 33-of-34 shots in regulation and overtime in the loss. The Blackhawks picked up one point on Colorado, and are six points back.

Nashville got on the board first, on Arnott's 27th marker of the year. J.P. Dumont took the puck behind the net and sent a pass to the slot for Shea Weber, whose shot was stopped by Khabibulin. But Arnott got his stick on the rebound and got it past the goal line, 5:24 into the game.

With 5:18 left in the same period, Ladd evened the game with a one-timer, off a pass from Dave Bolland, knotting the game at 1-1.

Khabibulin made 19 saves in the final two periods, and Ellis stopped 23 shots in the same span, sending the game to overtime.

The Blackhawks put eight shots on net in the extra session, and came within inches of stealing the game. With a little more than a minute elapsed, a shot slowly trickled through Ellis' pads, but hit the right post and stayed in the crease.

Then, with 2:29 remaining, Ladd sprung loose on a breakaway and fired a hard wrist shot, but Ellis made the glove save while falling backward.