ARI@CGY: Giordano opens the scoring in his 800th game

CALGARY -- Mark Giordano had two goals and an assist in his 800th NHL game to help the Calgary Flames to their fifth straight win, 7-1 against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday.

Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett scored for the Pacific Division-leading Flames (30-13-4), who matched a Calgary/Atlanta Flames record for fewest games to 30 wins in a season (47), set in 1988-89 (30-10 with seven ties, 67 points).
Calgary, which also won five straight games from Nov. 30-Dec. 8, has scored at least seven goals in a game six or more times in a season for the first time since 1992-93.
"We know when we play the right way we can score goals," said Giordano, Calgary's captain. "For us it's about being smart at the blue lines and playing well defensively. When we do that we know we're going to create and score goals, so we'll be fine."
WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Flames highlights]
Jordan Oesterle scored and Adin Hill made 19 saves for the Coyotes (20-22-3), whose three-game winning streak ended.
"We're playing a first-place team and we can't have four or five guys on the outside looking in," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "We had four guys that weren't good tonight and Calgary smelled it after the first period. They scored on their chances, they had 26 shots and they got seven goals. That's what happens. We had a couple guys that weren't ready to go."
Giordano scored on a short-side shot to put Calgary up 1-0 at 16:51 of the first period.
"One of the best captains I've played for, for sure, over my career," said Smith, who's in his second season with the Flames after being acquired from the Coyotes in a trade on June 17, 2017. "I've been here a short time, but it doesn't take you long to figure out what kind of person he is and what kind of leader he is. Eight hundred games in this league playing the way he does says a lot about the person he is and the player he is."
Monahan made it 2-0 at 17:59 when he took a pass from Gaudreau behind the net and beat Hill through the five-hole. Monahan has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games.

ARI@CGY: Monahan buries Gaudreau's pass in front

Tkachuk slid a backhand past Hill at 1:36 of the second period to make it 3-0.
"It was more like how we're capable of starting a game," Smith said. "I think we hadn't started well the last couple (of games), so it was nice to get out to a good lead there and then kind of push the game on forward and get a big win again."
Gaudreau extended the lead to 4-0 at 17:20, finishing off a pass from Monahan. Gaudreau moved into second place in the NHL scoring race with 69 points (27 goals, 42 assists); he has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) during an eight-game point streak.
"It seems like after every game you look at the scoresheet and he's got two or three on there," Giordano said. "Their commitment is really good this year. I like the way he backchecks. I like the way that whole line plays defensively now. That's going to be huge for us going into the playoffs. If we can get around playing well defensively, we know we have the offense."

ARI@CGY: Giordano tees up slapper for second goal

Oesterle scored through a screen on the power play with 16 seconds left in the second, the only one of Arizona's 23 shots to get past Smith. He has goals in back-to-back games after scoring in a 3-2 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Tkachuk scored his second goal at 4:20 of the third period to push it to 5-1. Giordano's second goal made it 6-1 at 6:16 and Bennett scored 59 seconds later to make it 7-1.

They said it

"It felt good. It was a big night. Big win for the team. It felt like we had good puck control, good movement, especially in the first and third. I thought we sagged a bit in the second. Really good game by our team. It feels good tonight." -- Flames captain Mark Giordano
"I thought we had some good chances to take the lead, but it felt like they were scoring on every chance they got. We talked about being hard in front of our own net and we gave them some good looks there in the middle." -- Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson

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Need to know

The Flames have scored at least four goals in seven of their past eight games. … Giordano is second in the NHL in scoring among defensemen with 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists), five behind Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks. He has 12 three-point games in his NHL career, six this season. …
Andrew Mangiapane
had an assist on Giordano's first goal to earn his first NHL point in his 19th game. …Arizona rookie forward Conor Garland had his four-game goal scoring streak end. …Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic did not play because of a family illness.

What's next

Coyotes: Host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN).
Flames: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN360, SN1, MSG-B, ESPN+, NHL.TV).

Giordano, Flames win fifth straight in 7-1 rout