WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Nashville Predators kicked off a four-game Western Canadian road trip with a tidy 4-1 triumph over the injury-riddled Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at the MTS Centre.

Right winger Craig Smith scored the winning goal on a rocket of a wrist shot early in the second period for the Predators (21-18-8), who close out the month of January with stops in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary.

Jets right winger Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring with an early first-period goal, his ninth of the season, while center Ryan Johansen tied the game with his ninth before the period was up.

Nashville left winger James Neal ripped his 18th of the season with less than two minutes left in the game before center Calle Jarnkrok scored his seventh into the empty net 25 seconds later.

The Jets (21-23-3) failed to score on four power-play chances, while the Predators were one-for-three with the man advantage.

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne won for just the third time in his last 10 starts, stopping 26 shots. Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves.

With four regulars out with injuries, the Jets forward crew is being held together by glue, a few safety pins and a pile of optimism. A trio of centers, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and Alex Burmistrov, and right winger Drew Stafford couldn't answer the bell, forcing head coach Paul Maurice to go with farmhands like left winger JC Lipon, center Patrice Cormier and right winger Matt Halischuk.

Winnipeg's makeshift second line struck early when right winger Joel Armia, a fourth-liner a week ago, sent Ehlers in alone, and the shifty rookie made a quick move and wristed a shot that glanced off Rinne's glove and found the top corner at 4:16. The center on the line, Mathieu Perreault, drew his 24th assist of the season on the play.

Late in the period, Winnipeg right winger Anthony Peluso took a needless penalty for kneeing in the neutral zone to give the Predators their first power play of the game, and the visitors didn't waste it. Johansen had a couple of whacks at a loose puck lying between the goal post and Hellebuyck's right pad before finally knocking it over the line to tie the contest with 3:21 left.

Johansen has three goals and six assists in seven games since the Columbus Blue Jackets dealt him to the Predators for defenseman Seth Jones two weeks ago.

Smith gave Nashville the lead at 5:09 of the second period when his hard drive from the left faceoff dot found some room over Hellebuyck's right shoulder. Defenseman Petter Granberg, a recent call-up from Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League, recorded an assist for the first point of his NHL career.

Neal's goal in the third period was a weird one, and a backbreaker for the Jets. After Johansen won the draw, Neal's blast hit the post, bounced back into Hellebuyck and then kicked back into the net.

NOTES: A pair of forwards for Nashville, LW Colin Wilson (lower body) and LW Gabriel Bourque (upper body), were out with injuries, while D Anthony Bitetto and LW Austin Watson were healthy scratches. ... D Adam Pardy was a healthy scratch for the Jets, while C Alexander Burmistrov (undisclosed), C Adam Lowry (upper body), C Mark Scheifele (lower body), RW Drew Stafford (upper body) and G Ondrej Pavelec (knee) remain sidelined. ... The Jets and Predators have met three times in the last 16 days. ... Predators D Roman Josi played the 300th game of his NHL career Thursday night, while F Mike Ribeiro needs just six more to hit the 1,000 mark. ... The Jets host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, while the Predators head west for a battle with the Oilers on Saturday.