The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning are set for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final tonight.

As was the case entering each of the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Habs will be in the underdog role.

Montreal is +220 to win the series. The defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning are -270 to repeat.

However, even as an underdog once again, it’s worth acknowledging that the Canadiens actually have shorter odds to win the Stanley Cup than they did to win their first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs and their third-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Now four wins away from winning it all for the first time since 1993, can these Canadiens pull off one final series upset in order to lift the Stanley Cup?

Here is the Morning Coffee for Monday June 28, 2021.

Can Habs continue to beat the odds?

Montreal was +240 to win its first-round series entering Game 1 against Toronto.

After rallying from down 3-1 to beat the Maple Leafs in seven, then sweeping the Winnipeg Jets at +105 to win their second round series, the Canadiens were +375 to beat the Golden Knights, which made them the largest underdog for a Stanley Cup final in 32 years.

As the Habs have shown in each of the first three rounds, they are more than capable of beating the odds.

Keep in mind that Montreal was +2800 to win the Stanley Cup entering the playoffs and +1800 to win it entering the third round.

After beating Vegas in six, it’s impossible to overlook the Habs anymore.

How have they done it?

Carey Price has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of Montreal’s 12 wins.

Price, who owns a .934 save percentage in these playoffs, is +195 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy – the second choice on the board behind Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Meanwhile, their young stars have stepped up in these playoffs, with Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield all performing above expectations.

Suzuki and Kotkaniemi are tied with Tyler Toffoli and Joel Armia for the team lead with five goals each.

Caufield’s nine points are the most by a Canadiens’ rookie in a postseason since Shayne Corson had 11 in 1987.

While Vasilevskiy is the betting favourite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, Nikita Kucherov (+300), Brayden Point (+400) and Victor Hedman (+5000) are all among the top five choices on the board as of this morning.

Who has the shortest odds for the Habs other than Price?

Caufield is +5500 to win the Conn Smythe, followed by Suzuki at +6000. That’s pretty remarkable.

Finally, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of the Montreal penalty kill so far in these playoffs.

The Canadiens have gone 13 straight playoff games without allowing a power-play goal, which is the longest such streak in a single postseason all-time.

Considering the weapons that the Lightning have on an absolutely loaded power play, the Habs will need their penalty kill to continue to shine in this series. 

The stage is set for Game 1 tonight in Tampa Bay.

As of this morning, Montreal is +175 to win Game 1 – Tampa Bay is -200.

Middleton shines as Bucks win Game 3

Khris Middleton matched a career playoff high with 38 points as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-102 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday.

With the Bucks leading in the fourth, Middleton outscored the Hawks on his own 20-17 in the final frame.

He became the third player over the past 25 postseasons to score 20 points in a fourth quarter while outscoring the opposing team. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Trae Young finished with 35 points after exiting the game briefly with an ankle injury.

Young returned with 8:44 left in the final frame but was held to just three points the rest of the way as Milwaukee outscored Atlanta 25-9 after he came back.

With a 2-1 lead, the Bucks are now -1400 to win the series.

The Hawks are +800 to advance to the NBA Finals.

Belgium, Czech Republic advance at Euro 2020

Four of the final eight teams spots at Euro 2020 have been clinched, with Belgium and the Czech Republic joining Italy and Denmark in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Belgium (-135) eliminated the reigning Euro champion Portugal with a 1-0 win on a goal by Thorgan Hazard.

Belgium was -200 to reach the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Czech Republic (+250) pulled off the first upset of the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win.

Czech Republic was +450 to make the final eight.

The Round of 16 continues today with a couple of lopsided matchups on paper.

Spain is -400 to advance with a win over Croatia (+275 to advance).

France, which remains the favourite to win the tournament at +400, is -500 to advance with a win over Switzerland (+333 to advance).

Wimbledon underway on TSN

The first round at Wimbledon is underway right now on TSN.

The Championships return after last year’s edition was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Novak Djokovic is the obvious favourite on the men’s side as he looks to complete the Calendar Slam after winning the Australian Open and the French Open.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty are the co-favourites on the women’s side.

TSN will have exclusive live coverage of the entire tournament.

English makes it three of a kind for TSN Edge

Harris English (+3500) won the Travelers Championship in a thriller on Sunday.

English needed eight extra holes to beat out Kramer Hickok in a playoff for his fourth career PGA Tour victory. 

It marked the third straight week that a TSN Edge contributor has correctly predicted the outright winner at a PGA Tour event.

This time around, Michael Harrison delivered with English in his First Look At The Field.

Make sure you check back in later tonight for the First Look At The Field for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.