New York @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 15, 2019 ) NY Rangers 1, Calgary 5

A change behind the bench at the end of November resulted in a seven-game winning streak for Calgary, but the Flames are sliding back down the standings due mainly to their inability to win at home. Calgary looks to snap a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) at Scotiabank Saddledome in the finale of a three-game homestand versus the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

The Flames came out of the Christmas break with a dominant 5-1 victory at Edmonton, only to follow that up with lopsided losses at home at the hands of Vancouver and Chicago. “For whatever reason, we’re not getting points on home ice and we have to correct that right away," captain Mark Giordano said. "You take a lot of pride playing in your home building in front of your fans, but it has to be a place where you pile up the points.” The Rangers opened their four-game trek with a 5-4 overtime win at Toronto but fell behind by six goals before a belated comeback fell short in Tuesday's 7-5 defeat at Edmonton. "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 and we have to build on that ending and carry that over."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Sportsnet Flames (Calgary)

ABOUT THE RANGERS (19-16-4): Henrik Lundqvist has started only five of the last 13 games for New York, although he came off the bench Tuesday, but will get the nod Thursday. “Your approach has to be a little different than it used to be for my career,” said Lundqvist, who made at least 61 starts in nine of his first 13 seasons. “It used to be play and play and play, and I was probably a little bit more relaxed doing that. You just have to adjust to this." Lundqvist is 8-4-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average versus Calgary.

ABOUT THE FLAMES (20-17-5): Calgary put itself behind the eight-ball in each of its last two games, falling behind 3-0 in the first 20 minutes of both contests. “It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. I think we’re coming out flat," said forward Sam Bennett, who halted an 11-game goal drought Tuesday. "We got to do a better job on the forecheck ... we got to start limiting our turnovers in the first and start playing simple hockey.” Goaltender David Rittich has surrendered 14 goals in losing his last four starts at Scotiabank Saddledome.

OVERTIME

1. Flames F Johnny Gaudreau, a New Jersey native, has five goals and nine points in 10 games against New York.

2. Rangers F Artemi Panarin is on a torrid streak with two goals and eight assists in three games since the Christmas break.

3. Flames C Sean Monahan has scored in three of the past five games but has only one tally in 12 meetings versus New York.

PREDICTION: Flames 4, Rangers 3