Morning Coffee: Maple Leafs Series winner odds on the move after ...

There are moments that define eras for NHL franchises.

On Monday, I wrote about the Toronto Maple Leafs being at a crossroads in their first round series against the rival Boston Bruins.

Already down 1-0 in the series, the Maple Leafs found themselves trailing 2-1 in the second period on the road in Game 2.

Auston Matthews seized the opportunity.

After setting up the tying goal by John Tavares in the middle frame, Matthews scored the game winner with less than eight minutes to go in the third period.

Sure, it took a little longer than Leafs Nation wanted.

Still, goal No. 70 for No. 34 couldn’t have come at a better time for Toronto.

Matthews scored the game winner and registered a point on all three goals in the comeback win.

He also won 16 of 23 draws and finished with eight shots on goal.

After rallying from multiple one-goal deficits to win 3-2 and tie the series at 1-1 headed back to Toronto, the narrative has completely flipped.

Just like that, the Maple Leafs went from the underdog to a pick’em to win their first round series at FanDuel.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024.

Maple Leafs Series Winner Odds On The Move After Game 2 Win

The Maple Leafs could be found as high as +190 to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at FanDuel after falling behind 1-0 in the series.

That number represented a 34.5 per cent implied probability.

At the time, the Bruins were -235 to win the series.

After a win in Game 2, Toronto is -113 to advance.

10 hours later, the series is still hovering around a pick’em at FanDuel.

All things considered the outlook is pretty good for anybody who wagered on the Maple Leafs to advance at nearly 2-to-1 odds.

William Nylander hasn’t played a game yet.

Mitch Marner is still searching for his first point.

There’s still plenty of room for improvement at both ends of the ice, and yet the series shifts to Toronto tied 1-1 with the Maple Leafs taking over home-ice advantage.

Toronto opened -126 to win Game 3 on Wednesday.

That number has moved in Boston’s direction as the Maple Leafs are currently -115 to win Game 3.

If they can follow up last night’s performance with their best effort of the playoffs on Wednesday, the Maple Leafs will have an excellent opportunity to take a 2-1 series lead.

I’m excited to see what No. 34 has in store for an encore.

Meanwhile, we cashed another FanDuel Best Bet in the late game as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first round series.

No, I wasn’t on Connor McDavid to register 5+ assists, although I did consider adding Edmonton Oilers money line to my list of bets in Monday’s column.

It didn’t take long for me to realize I should have.

Instead, all we needed was two shots on goal from both Leon Draisaitl and Adrian Kempe in the game.

Kempe registered five shots on goal.

Draisaitl finished with three shots on goal.

We cashed in the third period with plenty of time to spare.

Looking forward to tonight’s slate, I’m locking in a very similar shots on goal Same Game Parlay as my FanDuel Best Bet.

The total for Game 1 between the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets was 5.5 at FanDuel.

The over cashed with six goals in the first period.

The total for tonight’s game is currently 6.5, but it’s juiced to the under.

Like most hockey fans, I’m hoping for fireworks in Winnipeg again tonight, even if we don’t get 13 goals.

As for my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll parlay Artturi Lehkonen 2+ shots on goal with Kyle Connor 2+ shots on goal at -120.

Lehkonen led all skaters with seven shots on goal on nine attempts in Game 1.

Connor was right behind him with five shots on goal on seven attempts.

Even if we see a much tighter checking game tonight, we only need both forwards to give us 40 per cent of their shots on goal production from Game 1 to cash this bet.

I’ll lock in 2+ shots on goal from Lehkonen and Connor as my FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday night.