Morning Coffee: Maple Leafs Stanley Cup odds on the move at FanDuel

Who are you?

Who, who, who, who.

I woke up this morning to find the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2-0 lead in Round 2 of a Stanley Cup Playoffs series for the first time in my lifetime.

The blue and white to win Game 2 outright could be found as high as +134 at FanDuel.

It didn’t matter.

48 hours after securing a Game 1 win over the Florida Panthers as a +108 underdog, the Maple Leafs doubled down with another milestone victory on home ice.

William Nylander anytime goal cashed again.

Nylander joined Alexander Mogilny as the only Maple Leafs in the last three decades to score five goals over a three-game span in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, and Morgan Rielly combined for six points, including one goal from each forward.

After the Panthers clawed their way back to a 3-3 tie in the third, it was Miles Daniel Marner’s dad to the rescue.

Mitch Marner’s second of the postseason held as the game-winning goal in a 4-3 win as Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

I really want to know, who are you?

NHL teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven playoff series have gone on to advance 86 per cent of the time.

That number climbs to 88 per cent for NHL teams that go up 2-0 on home ice.

The Maple Leafs are 11-0 all-time when they take a 2-0 series lead at home.

The Panthers are 0-5 all-time when they trail 2-0.

Leafs Nation, this is unfamiliar territory for most of you.

Is this the year that the Maple Leafs do the unthinkable?

Come on and tell me, who are you?

Because I really want to know.

This is Morning Coffee for Thursday May 8th, 2025.

Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Odds On The Move At FanDuel

When the Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway in April, the Maple Leafs were the 10th choice to win it all at FanDuel.

At the time, Toronto was +1300 to win the Stanley Cup.

Three weeks later, the Maple Leafs are down to +600 as the fourth choice to win the Stanley Cup this morning.

Toronto has a 2-0 series lead in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1987.

It’s the first time that the Maple Leafs have led 2-0 in consecutive postseason series since 1962-63.

Toronto to advance has flipped from +146 to -210.

The Maple Leafs to reach the Stanley Cup Final is down from +280 to +210 after last night’s win.

Now the focus shifts to a pivotal Game 3 in Florida on Friday night.

The Panthers opened -200 to win Game 3 and were quickly bet up to -240 at FanDuel.

After pulling off back-to-back upset wins at +108 and +132 on home ice, Toronto is up to +195 to take a 3-0 series lead with a win in Florida in Game 3.

The Maple Leafs are two wins away from reaching the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2002.

The city of Toronto is absolutely buzzing with excitement about the potential to knock off the defending champs this morning.

Whatever happens next, we’re about to find out whether these Maple Leafs have what it takes to win it all. 

Rantanen Emerges As Conn Smythe Trophy Favourite

I wonder what Colorado Avalanche GM Chris McFarland was thinking as he sat down for his morning coffee.

When the Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes back in January, they had no idea he would end up back in the Western Conference so fast.

After he propelled the Dallas Stars past Colorado in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a third-period hat-trick in Game 7, Rantanen went right back to work to carry the Stars past the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of their second round series last night.

Rantanen scored three goals in less than eight minutes for his second single-period hat-trick in as many games.

He joined Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard, and Tim Kerr as the only players in NHL history to record multiple single-period hat-tricks in the postseason.

Rantanen is the first to do it in a single postseason.

The fact that he’s done it in back-to-back games makes it even more remarkable.

Rantanen has emerged as the Conn Smythe Trophy favourite at +750 at FanDuel.

Dallas to advance has shifted from -182 to -360.

Winnipeg to win the series is up from +150 to +280.

Nobody is going to write off the Jets after one loss.

However, I feel much better about having the Stars to win the series and the Stars -1.5 in-pocket than I do about my wagers on the Panthers and the Panthers -1.5.

A FanDuel Best Bet To Consider For Thursday

The Morning Coffee best bets went 1-1 on Wednesday.

Dallas won, Florida lost, and it’s a 5-2 run that would have been a 7-0 run if I went with Toronto to win Game 1 and Game 2 instead of the Panthers.

You know, I still wish that I had Maple Leafs moneyline.

Turning the page this morning, I’ll lock in the exact builder shots on goal Same Game Parlay that I played for Game 1 between the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.

Give me Connor McDavid 2+ shots on goal, Leon Draisaitl 2+ shots on goal, and Jack Eichel 2+ shots on goal at -121.

As I wrote about in Wednesday’s column, Oilers playoff hockey is unlike anything else in sports.

Hopefully, we get another high-even game tonight in Vegas with the biggest stars on the ice firing plenty of pucks on the net.

The FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday night is locked in.

Have a great day, everyone!