Giordano, Flames trounce the Coyotes

CALGARY, Alberta – Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano celebrated his 800th NHL game in style.

Giordano had two goals and an assist and the Flames defeated the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 Sunday night.

“Whenever you’re playing in a milestone game, you want to win it, first and foremost,” Flames coach Bill Peters said. “When you win it and you’re plus-five with three points, that’s something you can tell your kids and they’re going to look it up and hey, it wasn’t a lie. Good for him.”

Giordano, the Flames’ captain, has 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) in 45 games this season, second among NHL defensemen and five points behind San Jose’s Brent Burns.

Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett also scored for Calgary, which has won five straight and improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10. The Flames lead the Pacific Division by three points over the Sharks.

Gaudreau also had an assist, extending his point streak to eight games (eight goals, 10 assists). With 69 points, he ranks second in the league in scoring, six points back of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

Jordan Oesterle scored for Arizona, which had its three-game winning streak halted.

Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet was not happy with his club’s performance.

“We’re playing a first-place team and we can’t have four or five guys on the outside, looking in,” Tocchet said. “We had four guys that weren’t good tonight and Calgary smelt it after the first period.”

Coyotes assign Hill to Tucson

The Coyotes sent goaltender Adin Hill to Tucson on Monday following a roster move on Sunday that brought goaltender Calvin Pickard up to the NHL from the Roadrunners.

Pickard was claimed off of waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 28 when injuries plagued that position for Arizona.