McDavid had three assists, and Matt Savoie and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers (33-26-9), who had lost two in a row (0-1-1). Connor Ingram made 26 saves.
“I felt good. I felt good in St Louis, too,” said Ingram, who made 22 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss at the St. Louis Blues on Friday. “We found a way to hold onto this one.
“Having your coach behind you is huge, but at the end of the day, my job never changes. I’m going to come in and be the same person I’ve been for the last three or four months. It’s exciting for me (to be the No. 1), but at the end of the day, like I’ve said a thousand times, it’s just stopping pucks. It’s the same thing every day.”
Fedor Svechkov scored for the Predators (29-28-9), who are 1-2-1 on a five-game road trip that will conclude at the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. Annunen made 27 saves.
“I liked our game. Even from the start we knew they’d be a desperate team, and I thought we handled ourselves pretty well,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “Obviously, we gave up the PK goal a little bit early, but I thought it was a battle out there. They’re a good hockey team.
“The power play didn’t connect, it kind of let us down here a little bit tonight (0-for-4), and we hit a crossbar and a post in the game. Another one of those games we’ve been in the middle of, we just didn’t get on the right end of it.”
Savoie pushed the lead to 2-0 at 2:32 of the second period, taking a pass from McDavid on a 2-on-1 rush and lifting the puck high over Annunen’s glove as he slid across the crease.
“I just busted as hard as I can and tried to give him an option,” Savoie said. “He did a good job kind of selling the shot and sliding it over to a pretty open net.
“This is the most important time of the season. I think the fire in here is there and is just continuing to grow and we’re continuing to find our game.”