SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Ryan Johansen, James Neal and Viktor Arvidsson scored, backup goaltender Juuse Saros made 25 saves and the Nashville Predators ended their season-long, four-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Predators (33-24-11) maintained their hold on third place in the Central Division with 77 points.

"He was excellent," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said of Saros. "It's difficult playing San Jose. They fire so many pucks at the net, they're so good at redirecting pucks from point shots. He tracked well and put himself in a position to make big saves for us."

The Predators finished their three-game road trip with a victory after losing to the Anaheim Ducks in a shootout and to the Los Angeles Kings in overtime.

"It was huge for us to finish this trip the right way," Johansen said. "We feel like we could have had some better results and played a little better the first two games in Anaheim and L.A. But we came in here today and we executed our game plan for the most part and found a way to get two points."

Martin Jones made 22 saves and Paul Martin scored for the Sharks (40-20-7).

San Jose (87 points) remains seven points ahead of Anaheim atop the Pacific Division.

"I liked our first period," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "And then we stopped playing, stopped following that formula. We came out in the second and try and turn it into a track meet. It came back to bite us.

"These are desperate teams we are playing. We have to get our desperation level to an equivalent spot. You got to play 60 minutes the right way at this time of the year to win games. Otherwise, you're leaving it to chance. And that's what we did tonight."

The Predators gave up three power play goals on three chances in their 3-2 loss to the Kings but killed all four penalties against San Jose.

"I think we were active and didn't give them too much space to move the puck around and just played a really good penalty kill today," Saros said. Martin gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 6:18 of the first period, beating Saros with a slap shot from near the blue line after Joe Thornton won a faceoff.

Nashville pulled even at 12:10 of the opening period on Johansen's 11th goal of the season. He tracked down a loose puck in the left circle, skated toward the slot and sent a wrist shot inside the left post.

"They did a good job of getting the lead and it was a good response by us to tie it up," Johansen said. "I thought we played a good road game."

Neal put Nashville ahead 2-1 with his 19th goal of the season at 10:08 of the second. Colin Wilson sent a pass from below the goal line to Neal, who beat Jones from close range. Neal ended a 10-game goal drought and scored his second goal against San Jose in two games this season.

"I came in here last time we played and I hadn't scored in a while," Neal said. "I was in a slump. Just trying to stay with it.

"I always get up for games in the afternoon, especially against san Jose. I needed to have a big one."

Arvidsson scored a short-handed goal into an empty net with 1:02 left, making it 3-1.

"I think a couple of times during the game we played into the game they wanted to play," Martin said. "We had some turnovers and chances. Jonsie made some big saves."

NOTES: Predators LW PA Parenteau made his Nashville debut, 10 days after being acquired from the New Jersey Devils in a trade. Parenteau, who skated on the second line, missed the previous four games with an injured finger. ... Sharks D David Schlemko missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury and remains day to day. ... Predators D Ryan Ellis returned to the lineup after missing one game with a lower-body injury. ... Predators C Vernon Fiddler (upper body) missed his second straight game. ... Sharks LW Marcus Sorensen was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.