NEW YORK RANGERS VS CALGARY FLAMES 01/02/2020 LIVE 9:00

The Calgary Flames play host to the New York Rangers on Thursday night as both teams come off ferocious comebacks that fell short.

The Rangers lost 7-5 at Edmonton on Tuesday night after trailing 6-0. They got on the scoreboard in the final minute of the second period en route to making it a one-goal game before the rally was spoiled by an empty-net goal.

The Flames were down by four goals to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, scored in the final minute of the middle period and made it a one-goal game before an empty netter sealed the deal in a 5-3 home loss.

As a result, it's a similar message from both camps before they square off at the Saddledome to start 2020.

"We showed some things we're going to need moving forward," New York coach David Quinn said. "That being said, we can't lose sight of the fact we can't start a game like that. We've got to build on that ending and carry that over into Calgary."

While the Rangers sit seven points out of a playoff spot, they actually appear to be in a better place than the Flames these days, even though Calgary is only one point off the pace. New York has won three of five. The Flames have dropped two straight and have only two wins in their last eight games (2-5-1). Calgary also has lost its last five home games (0-4-1).

Worse yet for Calgary is how it has lost the last two games by being outclassed in the first period.

"I'm as frustrated as everybody else is, probably," coach Geoff Ward said. "Saying that, we can't change the result tonight. What we gotta do is make sure we get prepared to have a better start against the Rangers. I mean, that's all we can control right now."

"You can't let it linger because we're playing every other night until All-Star break here," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "So we gotta find a way to move on and just get a win here. We have one more at home here. We haven't had the homestand we wanted at all, but we have one more here to give ourselves a little jumpstart into a two-game road trip."

Although the Rangers appear to have a bigger hill to climb, it's worth noting their schedule going forward. After a clash in Vancouver to conclude a three-game road trip, New York has a stretch with 10 of 13 on home ice.

The Rangers have an opportunity to make up ground, provided they avoid falling into the trap of early deficits.

"We don't have very good start, and then we get into penalty trouble, and we never really gave ourselves a chance to play five-on-five," Chris Kreider said of the clash in Edmonton. "And the minute we did, we started playing the right way, and we're able to tilt the ice. ... That was a hell of a response. I think early on in the year, something like that happens and we would probably fall apart a little bit, but we showed a lot of resolve here."