On April 11, the Chicago Blackhawks upset the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 as a +385 money line underdog in their penultimate game of the regular season.

That stunning upset helped the Florida Panthers secure the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Penguins.

Since then, the Panthers have gone on to take down the Stanley Cup favourite entering each round of the playoffs.

After knocking off the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida opened as the betting underdog once again versus the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

Will the Cardiac Cats pull off one final upset to win it all?

Or will the Golden Knights defend home ice and answer the challenge in a battle of two franchises in search of their first Stanley Cup championship?

The stage is set for an absolutely epic finale.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday, May 30, 2023.
 

Panthers an underdog once again for Stanley Cup Final

Believe it or not, Vegas and Florida opened with identical odds to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel last summer.

Both teams could be found at 10-to-1 odds.

It took a disappointing first half of the regular season and a late playoff push, combined with a Penguins’ collapse, in order for the Panthers to make the playoffs as a long shot to win it all.

Florida had the fewest points of any team to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now they have the opportunity to become the first such team to win it all.

The Panthers could be found at 26-to-1 to win the Stanley Cup at the start of the postseason.

The Golden Knights were 12-to-1 – nearly the same price that they opened at nearly a year earlier.

While Vegas took care of business as the favourite in two of their first three series, the Panthers upset the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes in order to win the East.

Florida was +275 to advance past the first round, +142 to advance past the second round, and +120 to win the Eastern Conference at FanDuel.

The Panthers could be found as high as +1280 to advance and 150-to-1 to win the Stanley Cup when they trailed Boston 3-0 in the first round.

Of course, Florida would not be here without the stellar play of Sergei Bobrovsky, who is 11-2 with a .935 save percentage this postseason.

Bobrovsky is the favourite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy at FanDuel entering the Stanley Cup Final at +200.

Matthew Tkachuk, who leads all remaining players with 21 points this postseason, is the second choice to win that award at +360.

For the Golden Knights, Jack Eichel is currently the top choice to win the Conn Smythe at +380 entering his first trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

However, a case can be made for each of Jonathan Marchessault (+600), William Karlsson (+600) and Adin Hill (+1100) as the best option to win that award for Vegas entering the Stanley Cup Final.

If the Golden Knights go on to win it all, it will very likely be the player that steps up with the best performance on the biggest stage that wins the Conn Smythe Trophy.
 

Nuggets open as heavy favourite in NBA Finals

The Denver Nuggets could be found as low as -125 to win the NBA championship at FanDuel on Monday morning.

If you like the Nuggets, I hope you got your bet in.

The Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals with a 103-84 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 on Monday night.

Miami opened at +330 to win the title at FanDuel. Denver went from -125 to -400 to win the title in a matter of hours.

The Nuggets have since been bet all the way to -480 to win the NBA championship at FanDuel.

Meanwhile, Denver opened as an 8.5-point favourite for Game 1 on Thursday night. That number has already been pushed to Nuggets -9.

It’s no surprise that Nikola Jokic remains the heavy favourite to win NBA Finals MVP at -320 at FanDuel.

Jokic was +270 to win that award just 15 days ago.

As someone who recommended plays on the Nuggets to win the title and Jokic to win MVP a couple of weeks ago, the outlook couldn’t be better heading into the NBA Finals.
 

A FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday night

We kicked off the week with another FanDuel Best Bet winner as we cashed our NBA Same Game Parlay at +110 odds at FanDuel

It felt like I couldn’t miss with my picks for Monday.

I’m hoping to carry that momentum into Tuesday with another FanDuel Best Bet winner this morning.

With no NBA and NHL until Thursday, it’s time to lock in on the MLB with another No Run First Inning (NRFI) bet I love.

The Miami Marlins have been good to us this season, with an 81 per cent NRFI rate.

Today, they’ll face Ryan Weathers on the mound for the San Diego Padres, who is 4-1 to the NRFI this season.

The Marlins will counter with Sandy Alcantara, who has conceded a run in the first inning just once in 10 starts despite his overall struggles this season.

I’ll take 0 runs in the first innings total runs market as my FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday.

Good luck to anyone who tails.

Let’s cash another winner and start the week 2-0!