Tkachuk has 5 assists as Flames rout Blues 7-1

St. Louis Blues' David Perron, left, chases Calgary Flames' Johnny Gaudreau during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY -

The Flames went into action against the Blues with a 3-8-1 record over their past dozen games, so Monday night there was a little urgency to get the team moving in the right direction.

Facing a road-weary Blues squad the Flames seized their opportunity, throttling St. Louis 7-1.

After St. Louis opened the scoring, the Flames responded with three in the first and four more in the second, strafing a pair of St. Louis goalies with 48 shots on goal.

Seven different players scored for the Flames, including Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tanev, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Blair Coleman and Adam Ruzicka.

Matthew Tkachuk had five assists.

The game was a big one for Flames defenceman Erik Gudbranson, who was playing in his 600^th NHL game.

Gudbranson has had to fight through several injuries, including both shoulders, a wrist and a facial injury but he hasn't lost sight of the fact that he has a pretty sweet gig, being an NHL hockey player.

Flames defenceman Erik Gudbranson reflected on playing 600 NHL games Monday

"We have the coolest job in the world," he said, earlier Monday. "We get to play a game for a living, and you, after 600 of them, I keep coming back to that we're very fortunate to do what we do, so I'm hopeful that I can keep playing as long as I can and keep getting better."

In a side note, the roster of Team Canada was apparently leaked on Twitter Monday. It includes four former Flames, Corban Knight, Ben Street, Adam Cracknell and Tyler Witherspoon. The biggest name on the roster is Eric Staal.

With files from Glenn Campbell and the Canadian Press