Morning Coffee: McDavid, Oilers a heavy favourite for pivotal Game 4 clash with Stars

Everybody, take a breath.

The city of Toronto finally saw some sunshine on Monday, my morning coffee was immaculate, and the vibes were off the charts after another brilliant performance by Connor McDavid in the Edmonton Oilers’ Game 3 win.

As it turns out, I was a little too excited and got ahead of myself when it came to cashing my Florida Panthers futures at FanDuel.

Thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes showing up in Game 4, I’ll have to wait a little longer for that green checkmark.

Logan Stankoven became the third rookie in franchise history to score at least five goals in a single postseason, Frederik Andersen returned to the net with 20 saves, and the Hurricanes beat the Panthers 3-0 to avoid a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals last night.

It was Carolina’s first conference finals win since 2006 and it snapped an NHL record 15-game losing streak in the conference finals.

I didn’t see it coming, either.

In hindsight, I probably should have.

In the second round, the Panthers pushed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the brink of elimination with a 6-1 win in Game 5, only to lay an egg in a 2-0 shutout loss on home ice in Game 6, before ending the series with another 6-1 blowout win in Game 7.

About a week later, Florida pushed Carolina to the brink with a 6-2 win in Game 3, laid an egg in a 3-0 shutout loss on home ice in Game 4, and hopefully set the stage for a repeat of their series-clinching win versus Toronto.

The Panthers opened -134 and currently sit at -125 to win Game 5 of the ECF on Wednesday night.

Florida remains the Stanley Cup favourite at -110 and a heavy favourite to reach the Stanley Cup Finals at -1600.

The Hurricanes are +104 to win Game 5, +860 to win the series, and +1900 to win the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers will get as many as three more chances to book their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, but every delay presents another 60 minutes or more for something to go wrong for the Cats.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers can inch closer to a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win over the Dallas Stars in a critical Game 4 of the NHL’s Western Conference Finals tonight.

The Oilers are a heavy favourite to push the Stars to the brink of elimination at FanDuel.

I won’t get too far ahead of myself, but as somebody who wants to see a Stanley Cup Finals rematch, I’ll be cheering for Edmonton to get the job done on home ice.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday May 27th, 2025.

McDavid, Oilers A Heavy Favourite For Pivotal Game 4 Clash With Stars

Connor McDavid is the Conn Smythe Trophy favourite.

After another brilliant performance in Game 3, I can’t wait to see what McDavid has in store for an encore.

With the Oilers just two wins away from a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, Edmonton’s captain must be feeling a sense of urgency entering a critical Game 4.

The Oilers have dominated the Stars for eight of the nine periods in the series.

One misstep in the third period of Game 1 ultimately cost them the series opener.

Since then, Edmonton has outscored Dallas a combined 9-1 in back-to-back wins.

The Oilers odds to advance flipped from +155 down 1-0 in the series to -365 with a 2-1 series lead.

Edmonton is +145 to win the Stanley Cup as a close second choice behind Florida.

Per the FanDuel traders, a Stanley Cup Finals rematch would be a pick’em with both teams at -110 to win it all.

Oilers Nation won’t overlook the challenge in front of them, but with a potential SCF rematch on deck, the sooner Edmonton ends the Western Conference Finals the better their chances on the game’s biggest stage.

Connor Brown could miss a few games due to injury.

However, the Oilers could get veteran defenceman Mattias Ekholm back in the lineup for tonight’s game.

As impressive as their depth has looked, no contender can afford any significant injuries this time of the year.

The Stars offence didn’t look nearly as dangerous without Roope Hintz in their lineup for Game 3.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference Finals might be over if Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, and A.J. Greer didn’t miss last night’s game.

If they win tonight, Edmonton will get as many as three chances to clinch the series, including a potential Game 6 on home ice.

If they lose tonight, the Oilers will concede home ice and need to win two of their next three to advance.

With both teams set to compete with a sense of urgency, I’m hoping we see fireworks in Edmonton tonight.

Once again, all eyes will be on the Oilers captain.

McDavid scored the second and third goals in a 6-1 win over Dallas in Game 3.

It was his sixth-career multi-goal playoff performance.

McDavid now has as many multi-point performances (24) as he does games with zero or one point in the playoffs.

He now leads all scorers this postseason with 17 assists and 22 points.

Taking a closer look at the advanced stats, we get an even better idea of McDavid’s dominance.

Edmonton had an 11-2 edge in odd man rushes when McDavid was on the ice in Game 3.

McDavid’s 12 primary assists are double the number that Mikko Rantanen has recorded for the second-best total among the other three teams still alive this postseason.

Meanwhile, McDavid leads the Oilers with an average of 3.8 shots on goal and 7.0 shot attempts per game.

His five goals ranks second on Edmonton behind only Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard.

Believe it or not, seven different Oilers have scored at least five goals this postseason, which is a testament to the club’s offensive depth.

Draisaitl and Bouchard have scored six goals.

McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, and Corey Perry have scored five goals.

Evander Kane has scored four goals.

Edmonton is the only team that has at least one player on all four forward lines that has scored five or more goals in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With McDavid leading the way, the most impressive scoring depth in the league, and Stuart Skinner playing at a Conn Smythe Trophy-level in four of his last five games, the Oilers have what it takes to challenge Florida in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch.

First, they need to get there.

Like I said off the top, nobody is going to overlook the potential for the Stars to rally in this series.

Still, Edmonton is 5-1 to advance when they have a 2-1 series lead in the McDavid/Draisaitl era.

The Oilers are a heavy favourite to win Game 4 at -164.

Barring a letdown, anybody who bet on Edmonton to win the series at -110 will be in excellent shape.

As for a FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll go with a builder Same Game Parlay that features McDavid 1+ assist, McDavid 2+ shots on goal, and Mikael Granlund 1+ shot on goal at +104 odds.

McDavid has registered two or more shots on goal in every game this postseason.

Granlund has registered at least one shot on goal in 11 straight games.

McDavid leads the NHL with 17 assists this postseason, including three in the first three games of this series.

Hopefully, the best hockey player on the planet can deliver a FanDuel Best Bet Winner for me.

Have a great day, everyone.