Add Dan Ellis to the list of goaltenders making life miserable for the Flames of late.

He made 22 saves, including eight in the third period, for his first shutout of the season and 10th of his career in a 1-0 Nashville Predators victory Friday night in Calgary.

The Flames, who were swept on their three-game homestand, were foiled by Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury on Wednesday and two nights earlier, Colorado's Craig Anderson stopped 44 shots in the Avalanche's 3-2 shootout win.

Calgary has scored just 23 goals in its past 12 games and missed a chance to gain the lead in the Northwest Division over idle Colorado.

"We've got the defensive side of the game going very well, we're getting great goaltending, guys are blocking a lot of shots and getting the shots down," Flames captain Jarome Iginla said.

"It's no secret we need to score goals. It's obviously a tough drought, but you've got to stay positive. Keep believing it's going to go the next shift, the next game, and it will."

Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, who made 20 saves in a losing cause, is optimistic the Flames can turn things around heading into road games against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday and the San Jose Sharks the next night.

"We're having a tough time scoring goals right now but it will change," Kiprusoff said. "Look at our lineup, we have a lot of guys who can score goals so probably next game it will open up and we'll be fine."

Series split

Patric Hornqvist, perhaps the NHL's hottest goal scorer, beat Miikka Kiprusoff on the short side at 13:38 of the third period for the winning goal to help the Predators avenge a 3-1 home loss to the Flames on Jan. 5 and gain a split in the four-game season series.

Hornqvist has a team-leading 19 goals this season, including six in as many games and 13 in his last 16 starts.

Not bad when you consider the Swedish forward, the 230th and last pick at the 2005 NHL entry draft, spent most of last season in the American Hockey League with Milwaukee.

The second-year NHLer is third in Predators scoring behind J.P. Dumont and Steve Sullivan, who set up Hornqvist on Friday with a pass from behind the Calgary net following a giveaway along by boards by Flames defenceman Robyn Regehr.

"Everything's going right for me," said Hornqvist. "It wasn't really even a good opportunity to score, but Sully made a good pass and it went in. I'm getting lots of good bounces right now. I've got to keep going in front of the net and work hard every night and hopefully get good bounces next game, too.

Ellis commended Hornqvist for making the most of his opportunities.

"Hornqvist has been one of our best players this year," Ellis said. "We can always count on him to be aggressive, to get in front of the net, to cause havoc and to score big goals. Tonight was just another one of those nights for him."

5-game road win streak

Nashville improved its record to 29-16-3 on the season and returns home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday after a three-game sweep through Western Canada gave the Predators their first five-game winning streak on the road in three seasons.

Nashville downed the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Tuesday, 24 hours after eking out a 3-2 decision at Vancouver, and remains fourth in the Western Conference standings.

Since the start of the 2005-06 season, they are a combined 22-12-2 versus Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary.

The Flames had plenty of chances to avoid a fourth consecutive loss at the Saddledome.

Olli Jokinen, who has only nine goals in 48 games this season, rang a shot off the post with 12 minutes left in regulation. Dustin Boyd was twice thwarted five minutes later and captain Jarome Iginla had a shot hit a skate in the final 60 seconds.

"He found the tiny little part that was open and fortunately he hit the outside of the post instead of the inside," Ellis said of Jokinen's scoring chance.

Calgary also went 0-for-3 on the power play.

Kiprusoff, who began Friday's contest with a .926 save percentage, stopped 20 of 21 shots.

With files from The Canadian Press