The Montreal Canadiens are headed to the Stanley Cup final.

Artturi Lehkonen scored the series-clinching goal just 1:39 into overtime as the Habs beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 6 on Thursday night to advance.

Montreal was +375 to win the series.

According to Sports Odds History, it’s the largest Stanley Cup semifinal series upset since 1988.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday June 25, 2021.

Canadiens eliminate Golden Knights

The Canadiens were a +2800 long shot to win the Stanley Cup at the start of the playoffs.

Their chances appeared even slimmer after they fell behind 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round.

However, the Habs rallied with three straight wins to beat Toronto in seven.

They needed just four games to sweep the Winnipeg Jets in the second round.

At +375 to win their series with Vegas, Montreal was the largest series underdog for a Stanley Cup semifinal in 32 years.

After they lost Game 1, the Canadiens were a +700 underdog just to reach the Stanley Cup final.

But the Habs went on to won four of their next five to eliminate the Golden Knights and advance.

Now they will represent Canada as the first team based north of the border to get this far since the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.

Montreal is the sixth team in the last three decades to reach the Stanley Cup final after they were series underdogs in each of the first three rounds.

Only one of the previous five teams went on to win the Stanley Cup – the New Jersey Devils in 1995.

We won’t know whether the Canadiens will play the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islanders until after their Game 7 tonight.

There’s a good chance they will be an underdog once again, regardless of which of those opponents they draw.

The Habs were +1800 to win the Cup after they went down 1-0 to Vegas. As of this morning, the Canadiens are +160 to win it all.

Conn Smythe Trophy odds update

Carey Price stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced in Montreal’s Game 6 win.

Price has allowed two goals or fewer in five straight games and eight of his past nine dating back to Game 2 versus Winnipeg.

The veteran goaltender will carry a 2.02 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage into his first Stanley Cup final appearance.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Price’s 707 career regular-season games are the most by any goalie ever at the time of their first Stanley Cup Final appearance.

A 50-to-1 long shot to win the Conn Smythe Trophy at the start of the playoffs, Price is now the favourite to win that award at +150.

As of this morning, Brayden Point (+400), Nikita Kucherov (+400) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (+450) round out the top four choices in that market.

Who is considered the second-most likely Habs’ player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy should they go on to win it all?

Rookie Cole Caufield at 30-to-1 odds.

Lightning, Islanders set for Game 7

The Lightning are currently -170 to win Game 7 of their Stanley Cup semifinal against the Islanders tonight.

The comeback on New York is +150.

Tampa Bay has won 13 straight postseason games when coming off a loss, dating back to the first round of the 2019 playoffs – the longest such win streak of all-time.

Can they make it 14 in a row with a chance to clinch a Stanley Cup final berth tonight?

We still don’t know Nikita Kucherov’s status after he left Game 6 on Wednesday with an injury. Kucherov leads all scorers with 27 points in 17 games in these playoffs. 

Meanwhile, Brayden Point will attempt to extend his nine-game goal-scoring streak tonight.

If he scores, he will match the longest goal streak in a single postseason in NHL history. 

Point is once again +150 to score tonight.

Clippers on the board in Western Conference finals

The Los Angeles Clippers fell behind 2-0 in each of the first two rounds of these NBA playoffs, only to come back and win both of those series.

Can they do it again versus the Phoenix Suns with a chance to reach the finals on the line?

The Clippers responded to a 2-0 a series deficit with a 106-92 win in Game 3 on Thursday night.

Los Angeles improved to 3-0 this postseason when down multiple games in a series.

Paul George led the way once again with 27 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.

Chris Paul went just 5-of-19 from the field in his return for the Suns.

Devin Booker went 5-of-21, including 1-of-7 when guarded by Patrick Beverley.

The Clippers snapped Phoenix’s nine-game win streak, setting the stage for a pivotal Game 4 at Staples Center on Saturday night.

With a win in Game 3, L.A. went from +550 to +330 to win the series.

The Suns’ series winner price was updated from -800 to -430 following their first loss since the opening round of the playoffs.

Cubs no-hit Dodgers

The Chicago Cubs (+220) no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 4-0 win on Thursday night.

It was the seventh no-hitter of the season – the most before July in MLB history.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, the MLB batting average (.238) is on pace to be the second worst in MLB history.

With 100 games remaining in the regular season, it will be very interesting to see how high that record number of no-hitters gets the rest of the way.