Betting

Morning Coffee: Hutson’s heroics have helped Habs flip the script entering Game 4 versus Sabres

By
Domenic Padula

Published: 

Montreal Canadiens' Kirby Dach (77) punches Buffalo Sabres' Logan Stanley (64) during a fight as Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) looks on during third period second round, Game 3, NHL playoff action in Montreal on Sunday, May 10, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi (Christinne Muschi)

Nobody likes a leak, unless it comes with a game date, spread, and a total in the NFL section at FanDuel.

On Monday, we learned that the Buffalo Bills will open their new Highmark Stadium against the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football on September 17th.

The Bills opened -2.5 with the total at 52.5 at FanDuel.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys opened -2.5 for a Week 1 game at the New York Giants and -1.5 for their clash with the Philadelphia Eagles on US Thanksgiving Thursday.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos will meet on Monday Night Football in Week 1.

We’ll have to wait until the NFL confirms which AFC West contender has home field for that clash before we get some numbers from FanDuel.

While we’re still months away from cashing NFL bets, we stayed hot with another Morning Coffee winner from the lone game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday.

The Colorado Avalanche remained right on schedule with a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Presidents’ Trophy winning teams are 33-2 all-time when leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven series.

The Avalanche, which own a 14-2 series record in that scenario, are -2500 to win the series and -190 to clinch in Game 5 on home ice on Wednesday night.

In the meantime, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will give us a double-header with major implications tonight.

The Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights are down to a best-of-three with their series tied 2-2 entering Game 5 tonight in Las Vegas.

When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to advance 79 per cent of the time.

Vegas is -150 to win tonight and -162 to win the series.

First up, the Montreal Canadiens will attempt to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 4 at the Bell Centre.

The Habs have defied the odds all season to climb within two wins of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tonight, they’ll be in unfamiliar territory as a heavy favourite to beat the Sabres in Game 4.

Let’s dive into that matchup and lock in a FanDuel Best Bet in this Morning Coffee for Tuesday May 12th, 2026.

Hutson’s Heroics Have Helped Habs Flip The Script Entering Game 4 Versus Sabres

Cale Makar, Zach Werenski, and Rasmus Dahlin are the finalists for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the defenceman who demonstrates the greatest all-around ability at the position throughout the NHL regular season.

While he isn’t among the Norris finalists, Lane Hutson has left no doubt about which defenceman has shown the greatest all-around ability at the position through the first three games between Montreal and Buffalo.

Hutson’s elite skill set was on display in a dominant 6-2 win in Game 3 in which he registered two powerplay assists and a plus-two rating while making several key plays that don’t register in the traditional box scores.

Hutson is up to nine points in 10 games this postseason – tied with Nick Suzuki for the team lead and the most by a Canadiens defenceman since PK Subban had 12 in 2014.

While some of us were screaming for him to shoot the puck more in Game 3, it was his ability to make the play that we didn’t anticipate that jumped out on film.

Hutson’s ability to skate the puck into high danger scoring areas and find an open teammate is remarkable to watch.

Still only 22-years-old, Hutson leads Montreal in ice time (259 minutes), assists (7), primary assists (5), points (9 – tied with Suzuki), and on-ice goal differential (9).

With Hutson performing at a Norris Trophy-level, the Canadiens have scored five or more goals in consecutive postseason games for the first time since 2006 and can take a commanding 3-1 lead tonight on home ice.

Montreal is 40-11 all-time when leading a best-of-7 2-1.

Buffalo is 0-14 all-time when trailing 2-1 in a best-of-7.

The biggest issue for the Sabres has been their inability to keep up with the speed of the Canadiens at 5-on-5.

Tage Thompson scored his first goal of the series in Game 3 and registered two points, but he’s a minus-seven in the series and it seems more likely than not that he’s playing through an injury.

Alex Tuch is still looking for his first point of the series and is a minus-six.

Thompson, Tuch, and Peyton Krebs were thoroughly outplayed in 12:40 on the road in Game 3.

Outside of the second line of Josh Doan, Josh Norris, and Zach Benson, Buffalo’s forwards struggled to keep pace and generate many scoring chances at even-strength.

If the Sabres are going to avoid a 3-1 series deficit tonight, it must start with that second line.

Doan and Benson have produced, but hockey fans in Buffalo want to see more from the centre on that line.

Doan has registered 1+ point and 3+ shots on goal in all three games in this series.

He’s +122 to register 1+ point and +162 to record 3+ shots on goal tonight in Game 4.

Meanwhile, Dahlin led Buffalo in expected goals in Game 3 and finished with a goal, an assist, and three shots on goal in the 6-2 loss.

Dahlin to register 1+ point tonight is -138.

A FanDuel Same Game Parlay with Dahlin 1+ point and 2+ shots on goal could be found at +104.

For the Habs, Hutson to register 1+ point has been juiced to -220, with 1+ assist at -174 at FanDuel this morning.

Hutson 2+ shots on goal is -122.

Meanwhile, Alex Newhook is coming off back-to-back games with two goals for the Canadiens.

Newhook anytime goal is +290.

Newhook 2+ goals is +2700.

The line of Newhook, Jake Evans, and Ivan Demidov was solid again in Game 3 with Newhook leading the team in expected goals.

Newhook to register 1+ point in Game 4 is +152.

For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll lock in a builder SGP with Doan to record 2+ shots on goal and Dahlin to get 2+ shots on goal at -116 odds.

Doan to register 2+ shots on goal was plus money for the first three games of the series, but not anymore.

Dahlin leads Buffalo with 3.7 shots on goal on 7.6 attempts per game this postseason, so I’ll lock in the builder SGP as my best bet for Game 4.

As for a couple of plus-money props, Doan 1+ point at +124 and Newhook 1+ point at +152 are intriguing looks.

As always, I’ll post my full card for each game to my X account @Domenic_Padula later today.

Hopefully, we can continue our hot streak with another Stanley Cup Playoffs double-header on deck tonight.

Have a great day, everyone!