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Morning Coffee: Canadiens continue to embrace underdog status ahead of ECF vs. Hurricanes

By
Domenic Padula

Published: 

Nobody gave the Montreal Canadiens any respect after they defied the odds to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25.

Well, almost nobody.

I don’t think Habs fans doubted them for a minute.

Last summer, the Canadiens opened at 100-to-1 to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

They were +156 just to make it back to the postseason.

11 months later, the Habs are four wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Alex Newhook scored the Game 7 overtime winner on Monday as Montreal punched its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Newhook, who scored six goals in the seven-game series, became the second player in NHL history to score multiple series-clinching goals in the same postseason.

Meanwhile, Jakub Dobes stood tall again with 37 saves to become the third Habs rookie goalie to win a Game 7 in overtime, joining Steve Penney and Patrick Roy.

That’s impressive company for a 24-year-old that wasn’t locked in as the starter at the beginning of the season.

Turning the page this morning, the underdog Canadiens are set to face their toughest test yet against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Montreal opened +215 to win the series at FanDuel.

That number has since climbed to +230.

After the Game 7 win, Dobes told ESPN, “It looks like we are the underdogs, so that’s perfect. We love to be the underdog.”

After defying the odds to reach the NHL’s final four, do the Canadiens have enough left in the tank to pull off one more upset against the Hurricanes?

Let’s take a quick look at FanDuel’s updated NHL futures in this Morning Coffee for Tuesday May 19th, 2026.

Canadiens Continue To Embrace Underdog Status Ahead Of ECF Versus Hurricanes

The Colorado Avalanche remain the Stanley Cup favourite at +135 at FanDuel this morning.

Carolina is +160 as the second choice to win it all.

Then it’s the Vegas Golden Knights at +600, followed by the Canadiens at +700.

Last summer, I bet on two teams to win the Stanley Cup.

The Avalanche were my best bet to win it all at +850.

The Canadiens were my favourite longshot at +10000.

However, I also told anybody who would listen that I didn’t think the Hurricanes have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup.

At the time, I had no idea that the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers would get hit hard by injuries to their star players.

In their last two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, Carolina went a combined 1-8 against Florida.

While the Metropolitan Division was wide open, I felt confident that the Hurricanes would be in tough again if they made it back to this stage, whether they had to face the Panthers or whatever other team was good enough to make it this far.

Now that we’ve arrived, the Caniacs are calling this the easiest path to the Stanley Cup Final they’ve ever had.

Carolina is coming off back-to-back four-game series sweeps of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers.

With Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals set for Thursday night, the Hurricanes will have 12 days off between games, matching the longest layoff in NHL history.

They’ll have played only eight games in 36 days.

With home-ice advantage, a healthy roster, and plenty of time to rest and prepare for this series, there’s no way the Hurricanes will suffer another letdown, right?

The Habs have defied the odds all season to get here.

Montreal has gone 6-0 after a loss this postseason.

The Canadiens have also gone 6-2 on the road, including a pair of Game 7 wins in Tampa Bay and Buffalo.

You’ve also probably heard by now that Montreal swept its regular-season series versus Carolina, outscoring the Hurricanes a combined 13-8.

The Habs have embraced the “underdog” role and built a ton of momentum and confidence with a pair of thrilling series wins over the Lightning and Sabres.

With their toughest test on deck, I’m fascinated to see how their matchup against the Hurricanes plays out.

Over the next couple of days, I’ll be building out deep dives for both conference finals in this column.

Hopefully, we can build off a strong start and finish the Stanley Cup Playoffs on a high note.

Have a great day, everyone!