Morning Coffee: Expect goals in Columbus tonight.

At the time I wrote the headline for Monday morning’s article, I didn’t know how I could be any more candid.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets, which both rank in the top five of the NHL in goals per game and the bottom third in goals allowed per game over the past month, were a combined 23-7-3 to the over in that span entering last night’s showdown.

As it turns out, we got exactly what we expected on the ice.

Maple Leafs over 3.5 goals cashed. Blue Jackets over 2.5 goals cashed. Game total over 7 cashed.

Meanwhile, two of the league’s hottest scorers also delivered.

Auston Matthews, who was -115 to score, potted his league-leading 40th goal of the season.

Patrik Laine, who was +175 to score, recorded his 16th goal in his past 16 games.

Shout-out to the entire TSN EDGE team, which was all over the Toronto-Columbus plays, in addition to the over in the Florida Panthers’ 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, and the Calgary Flames -1.5 in a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

With the Maple Leafs back in Toronto to host the Seattle Kraken, should we run it back tonight?

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

Maple Leafs outscore Blue Jackets

After a 5-4 win over the Blue Jackets last night, the Maple Leafs are up to 4.35 goals per game since Jan. 27.

Only the Florida Panthers (4.46) have a higher goals per game in that time.

Meanwhile, Toronto has allowed an average of 3.76 goals per game over that same span – tied with Columbus for the eighth-worst mark in the league.

Matthews delivered again with a goal and an assist.

Matthews, who is up to 40 goals in 53 games this season, is now -120 to win the Rocket Richard Trophy.

As of this morning, the Maple Leafs are -265 to beat the Kraken tonight. We can also find the over 6.5 at plus-money.

So, should we expect another high-scoring game in Toronto tonight?

Jack Campbell, who is expected to get the start for the Maple Leafs, has allowed four goals or more in four straight starts.

He’s 2-3-1 with a 4.40 goals-against average and an .873 save percentage since the All-Star break.

Can he get back on track tonight versus Seattle?

While the Maple Leafs rank second in the NHL with 4.35 goals per game since Jan. 27, the Kraken have averaged just 2.25 goals per game over that span – only the San Jose Sharks (1.92) and Ottawa Senators (2.11) have scored fewer goals.

Seattle is just 1-8-1 over its past 10 games dating back to Feb. 14.

The Kraken scored two goals or fewer in eight of their nine losses over that span.

For as much as Toronto has struggled to keep the puck out of its own net, Seattle under 2.5 goals is -130.

The Kraken to score three goals or more is +105.

Perhaps this is the night that Campbell shuts the door with his best performance since before Feb. 17, but I’m not running to bet the under at that price.

I’ll take the Maple Leafs -1.5 -110 as my best bet for tonight’s game and hope for a strong performance from Campbell, getting a little insurance with Matthews and a high-powered offence to potentially bail me out should Campbell struggle to shut the door versus Seattle.

Flames win latest Battle of Alberta

Tyler Toffoli scored twice, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves, and the Calgary Flames rolled to a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in the latest edition of the Battle of Alberta.

Flames money line -215 and -1.5 +115 both cashed as they extended their home point streak to 13 games.

Calgary is 12-0-1 in its past 13 games on home ice dating back to Jan. 18.

The Flames are also a league-best 13-1-1 since February 1st.

Toffoli to score 2+ goals +1000 was also a winner.

He opened the scoring with his 15th of the year on the power play and then scored the eventual game winner just over three minutes later.

Johnny Gaudreau finished with a goal and an assist.

Calgary, which opened the regular season at +1000 to win the Pacific, is now -700 to win the division.

Markstrom, who improved to 26-11-6 with a 2.14 GAA and a .926 save percentage this season, remains the second choice to win the Vezina Trophy at +850.

New York Rangers’ netminder Igor Shesterkin remains the favourite (-210) to win that award.

Darryl Sutter is the betting favourite to win the Jack Adams Award at +200.

Meanwhile, the Oilers have dropped three straight and six of their past eight games overall.

Edmonton is now two points back of the Nashville Predators for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with two more games played.

On March 1, the Oilers were -280 to make the playoffs and +220 to miss the playoffs.

One week later, Edmonton is -130 to make the playoffs and +110 to miss the playoffs.

With the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning coming up on the schedule this week, it will be very interesting to see if the Oilers to miss the playoffs is still available at plus-money at the end of the week.

Ridley suspended indefinitely

The NFL announced on Monday that Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley has been suspended indefinitely for at least the entire 2022 season for betting on NFL games during the 2021 season.

Ridley, who played in five games for the Falcons last season before leaving the team in early November for mental health reasons, would lose more than $11 million before he is eligible to apply for reinstatement in February of 2023.

You can read the full story here.