The Montreal Canadiens are trending up in the NHL’s North Division.

Montreal extended its season-opening point streak to five in a row with a 7-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

The Habs have scored three or more goals in every game so far, including five or more in three of them.

A year ago, the Canadiens ranked 19th in the NHL with an average of 2.93 goals per game.

Through their first five games this season, Montreal ranks second in the NHL with an average of 4.8 goals per game.

With a condensed 56-game schedule, a strong start is that much more important for a Canadiens team that had plenty of question marks entering this season.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday Jan. 22, 2021.

Habs Trending Up

On a night when NHL favourites went a combined 5-1, the Habs (-130) took care of business with seven goals in a win over Vancouver.

The early returns from a busy off-season for general manager Marc Bergevin have made a major difference for the Habs early on.

Tyler Toffoli torched his former team again with two goals and an assist in Thursday’s 7-3 win.

After he was held to one assist through three games, Toffoli netted five goals and two assists, including two shorthanded points, over six periods against the Canucks.

He’s now tied with his former teammate Bo Horvat for the league lead with five goals.

Canadiens winger Josh Anderson scored his third of the year last night.

Meanwhile, Jake Allen stopped 14 of 17 shots to improve to 2-0-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average backing up Carey Price.

After a 3-0-2 start, Montreal’s odds to win the North Division have shortened from +500 to +300 odds.

The Canadiens are now the second choice to win the division behind only the Toronto Maple Leafs (+120).

While there is still a long way to go, anybody that bet the Habs at long odds to win the North has to be happy with the team’s start.

Lakers Still NBA’s Best

The Los Angeles Lakers (+105 ML) beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-106 on Thursday night.

The defending NBA champions improved to 8-0 on the road and a league-best 12-4 overall this season.  

Anthony Davis had 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks in the win. That didn’t stop him from being critical of his own performance.

Davis has averaged 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.

While his scoring and blocking stats are down slightly from last season, he has still been a top-12 fantasy performer this season.

More importantly, the Lakers have once again solidified their status as the obvious betting favourite to win another NBA title at +240 odds, ahead of the Brooklyn Nets (+300), Los Angeles Clippers (+600) and the team they beat on Thursday night in Milwaukee (+650).

NFL Conference Championship Movements

Patrick Mahomes practised again on Thursday and appears to be on track to play against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

The Chiefs are still a three-point favourite versus Buffalo. The total for that AFC clash has creeped up from 53.5 to 54.0.

Meanwhile, we saw a slight adjustment for the NFC Championship Game with the Green Bay Packers sliding from -3 to -3.5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The total has held at 51.5.

I’m still concerned about Mahomes’ mobility after he suffered a toe injury in addition to the concussion in the Divisional Round.

However, I still think Mahomes will play on Sunday and for as impressed as I have been all season with the Buffalo Bills, there is no way I’m betting against Mahomes in a playoff game.

I’ll take the Chiefs -3.

My Super Bowl pick is Kansas City over Green Bay.

While I’ll stick with the Packers money line, I think it will be a close game, so I’ll take the Buccaneers +3.5.

To recap, I like the Chiefs -3, Green Bay money line and Tampa Bay +3.5 this weekend.

Make sure you check back in at the TSN Edge throughout the weekend for the latest to get you ready for Sunday’s games.

Enjoy the games everyone!