The Vegas Golden Knights were +1040 to miss the playoffs on the opening night of the regular season.

Only the Colorado Avalanche had longer odds. As of this morning, Vegas is -220 to miss the playoffs.

The Winnipeg Jets beat the Golden Knights 4-0 on Tuesday night. It was Winnipeg’s second win over Vegas in eight days.

The Golden Knights were 28-16-3 on Feb. 8.

Since then, Vegas has gone 6-12-1, and is now on the outside of a playoff spot looking in with just 16 games remaining.

The Golden Knights’ struggles have opened things up for a pair of Canadian teams that are knocking on the door in a tight Western Conference playoff race heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Wednesday March 23, 2022.

NHL Western Conference playoff race spotlight

Ten points separated third from 11th in the Western Conference standings heading into Tuesday night’s games.

All three home favourites on the bubble won last night.

The Jets, which went from -130 to -170, beat Vegas 4-0. Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers finished with a goal and an assist.

Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler had two assists.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 42 shots that he faced for his fourth shutout of the season.

The shutout snapped a string of 10 straight games in which Hellebuyck had allowed three or more goals.

Winnipeg, which was +1200 to make the playoffs on March 12, is now +425 to get into the dance.

The Jets will play each of their next four games against non-playoff teams in the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, and Buffalo Sabres.

They’re now two points back of the Golden Knights with two games in hand.

More importantly, Winnipeg is three points back of the Dallas Stars for the final wild-card spot with two more games played.

The Stars (-120 ML) beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3.

Dallas, which has won three of its last four, is now -380 to make the playoffs and +290 to miss the playoffs.

The difference between the Stars and Jets in the standings? Dallas won each of the final three head-to-head regular season meetings.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings (-125 ML) beat the Nashville Predators 6-1 to complete the bubble team favourites parlay for Tuesday night.

A $100 ticket with the Kings, Stars and Jets paid $424.12.

With nine teams separated by 11 points from third through 11th in the Western Conference standings, that playoff race will be in the spotlight over the final five weeks of the regular season.

Next up, the Vancouver Canucks are set to visit the Colorado Avalanche in a tough matchup tonight.

The Canucks, five points back of Dallas for the final playoff spot with two more games played, are +550 to make the playoffs and -800 to miss the playoffs.

Vancouver has dropped three straight and five of its past six games overall.

The Canucks’ schedule isn’t about to get any easier either with four straight road games versus the Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Stars and the St. Louis Blues.

Shesterkin pulled in loss to Devils

The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 7-4 last night as a +130 money line underdog.

There was a lot of talk throughout the night about the performance of Igor Shesterkin, who was pulled after giving up five goals on 24 shots and has allowed four or more goals in three of his last five starts.

Despite the rough stretch, Shesterkin is still 30-9-3 with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.

While getting pulled against the Devils certainly won’t help his chances to win the Vezina Trophy or the Hart Trophy, the contrarian in me will point to last night’s game as an example of how vulnerable the Rangers are when their star netminder isn’t playing his best hockey.

Shesterkin remains the favourite to win the Vezina Trophy, but his odds have shortened to -195. Jacob Markstrom is the second choice at +500.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a two-horse race with Shesterkin still the obvious favourite to win the Vezina and Markstrom as a logical second choice.

Considering their current prices, if you’re holding a ticket with Shesterkin to win the Vezina, it’s not a bad idea to hedge with Markstrom at +500.

Meanwhile, Shesterkin remains the third choice to win the Hart Trophy at +650. Auston Matthews is the favourite at +150.

Connor McDavid is the second choice at +350.

Matthews should have an excellent opportunity to add to his resume tonight against New Jersey.

The Devils, which rank 29th in the NHL with 3.59 goals allowed per game this season, will travel to face Toronto after beating the Rangers last night.

There are a couple of notable trends to keep an eye on for tonight’s game. 

A goal scored in the first 10 minutes is 30-4 in New Jersey’s past 34 games.

Jack Hughes, who scored twice last night against New York, is up to 10 points in his past eight games.

Meanwhile, the over in the third period is 33-3 in Toronto’s past 36 games.

Matthews extended his scoring streak to six games in a row with a goal against the Predators in his return from suspension on Saturday night.   

The NHL’s goal scoring leader is -125 to extend that streak tonight against the Devils.

Magic stun Warriors

NBA favourites went 3-1 straight up on Tuesday night, but the lone upset was a notable one.

The Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors 94-90 as a +260 money line underdog.

Draymond Green didn’t hold back after the loss.

Golden State was 41-13 following a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 7. Since then, the Warriors have gone 6-12 to fall to 47-25.

Stephen Curry’s absence combined with a tough schedule won’t make things any easier on Golden State, which is right back in action tonight against the Miami Heat. Miami is a seven-point favourite.

The Warriors will travel to Atlanta and Washington after tonight’s game, then face the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz after that.

That’s a tough stretch for a team that’s really struggled of late and is without its best player.