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Morning Coffee: Bruins, Maple Leafs a Pick’Em at FanDuel entering Game 3
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Who needs sleep during the playoffs?
Only hours after Jamal Murray’s epic buzzer beater for the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, we locked in another FanDuel Best Bet in this column for last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff games.
It’s a good thing we didn’t bet the Tampa Bay Lightning to go over 2.5 goals at FanDuel.
Shout out to Sergei Bobrovsky for one of the best saves in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.
Instead, we went to 3-0 with another Same Game Parlay for Game 2 between the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets.
More on that in a moment.
First, I want to acknowledge what the Avalanche just did in back-to-back playoff games on the road against the overwhelming favourite to win the Vezina Trophy at FanDuel in Connor Hellebuyck.
After scoring six goals in a Game 1 loss, Hart Trophy favourite Nathan MacKinnon and company were all gas, no brakes once again in a 5-2 win in Game 2.
Colorado has scored 10 goals on Hellebuyck in two games, illustrating why they entered the playoffs as the top choice to win the Western Conference at FanDuel.
The Avalanche went from +370 to +700 to win the West following a Game 1 loss in which Alexander Georgiev posted a brutal .696 save percentage.
Following last night’s victory, Colorado is back down to +470 to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
The Avs also went from an underdog to the favourite to win the series with a move from +140 to -144 at FanDuel.
If Georgiev plays the way he did last night when he stopped 28 of 30 shots for a .933 save percentage, including several impressive saves, Colorado is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
At the same time, if you believe that Hellebuyck and the Jets can do a better job of slowing down the Avalanche attack after giving up 5+ goals in back-to-back games, you can find Winnipeg at plus-money to win the series once again this morning.
The only lock is that the series should continue to entertain with two of the NHL’s best going head-to-head in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s one of several reasons why I’m not getting any sleep.
This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday, April 24th, 2024.
Bruins, Maple Leafs A Pick’Em At FanDuel Entering Game 3
We’ve already seen some dramatic swings in series prices over the past few days, including a couple of instances where a team has gone from the underdog to the favourite to advance, and vice-versa.
The Avalanche are -144 to advance after they moved from -138 to +140 following a Game 1 loss.
The Jets are +120 to advance this morning after they went from +115 to -170 to win the series following a Game 1 win.
Anybody paying attention to series winner prices has had a couple of opportunities already to get both teams to advance at plus-money, therefore guaranteeing a profit.
That isn’t the case with the first round series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.
The Maple Leafs and Bruins are both -110 to advance at FanDuel as the series shifts to Toronto for Game 3 tonight.
While the Maple Leafs could be found as high as +190 to win the series following a Game 1 loss, -108 was the longest price I saw for Boston to advance.
Toronto is a slight favourite for Game 3 tonight at -115.
The Bruins are -104 to win tonight and retake home ice advantage in the series.
If anybody knows the status of William Nylander this morning, they haven’t made it public.
An update on Nylander’s status will impact both the game odds and several player props at FanDuel once it’s revealed.
In terms of a FanDuel Best Bet, I’m sticking with what worked for me on Monday night and focusing on the late game between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings.
The Oilers dominated Game 1 with a 7-4 win over the Kings in which they ended up with 45 shots on goal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After a season where Connor McDavid recorded 100 assists, he opened the 2024 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StanleyCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StanleyCup</a> Playoffs with a five-helper outing and became the fourth different player in <a href="https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdmontonOilers</a> history to post 5+ assists in a playoff game.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLStats?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLStats</a>: <a href="https://t.co/adr2ikkzNb">https://t.co/adr2ikkzNb</a> <a href="https://t.co/qfBuzZlk2u">pic.twitter.com/qfBuzZlk2u</a></p>— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1782642861399212128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Meanwhile, after falling behind 4-0 in the second period, Los Angeles rallied with four goals in the second half of the game and finished with 37 shots on goal.
For somebody building Same Game Parlays comprised of shots on goal props at FanDuel, it was a dream game.
Hopefully, we see a similar style from both teams tonight as we run it back with another Same Game Parlay as the FanDuel Best Bet for Game 2 in Edmonton tonight.
Zach Hyman recorded a hat-trick and finished with a team-high nine shots on goal on 12 attempts in Game 1.
Hyman to record 3+ shots on goal in Game 2 is -240 at FanDuel – a 70.6 per cent implied probability.
I believe Hyman’s chances to record three or more shots on goal should be higher than that.
Meanwhile, Adrian Kempe registered a team-high five shots on goal on eight attempts in the series opener.
Most of his attempts came in the second half of the game.
If the Kings are going to have a chance tonight, they’ll need Kempe to get going earlier, which bodes well for his shots on goal props once again.
For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll lock in a Same Game Parlay with Hyman to record 3+ shots on goal and Kempe to record 2+ shots on goal at -119 odds at FanDuel.
Hopefully, we can stay hot with a fourth straight winner to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The only lock is that I won’t be getting any sleep once again.