The first month of the Peter Laviolette era ended with the New York Rangers completing their first unbeaten five-game road trip in team history. Off to a strong start under their new coach, the Rangers seek a sixth straight win Thursday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers are playing their third home game this season and first since looking flat and getting outplayed in a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators two weeks ago. The response to the lackluster effort was winning the first three games in Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton by a combined 10-2 margin before getting overtime wins in Vancouver and Winnipeg. New York's strong road trip gave it a 7-2-0 record through Laviolette's first nine games behind the bench. It is the first time the Rangers began a season with seven wins through their first nine games since 2009-10, a year they wound up missing the playoffs by one point. The Canes have been hit or miss all year, but we think they show up here and do well as this is a flat spot for the Rangers and granted the Rangers did well on their road trip but we think they let down vs the Canes.