The Stanley Cup will be in the Bell Centre on Monday night for Game 4 of the Final.

That should inspire a sense of urgency for both teams.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have an opportunity to complete the first sweep in the Stanley Cup Final since 1998 when the Detroit Red Wings won in four against the Washington Capitals.

Entering the series, the Lightning were +550 to win in four.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens will try to pick up their first Stanley Cup Final game win since 1993.

Montreal has a seemingly impossible task ahead trying to rally from down 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup against the defending champs.

For now, it’s all about getting on the board with a win on home ice to send the series back to Tampa for a Game 5.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Monday July 5, 2021.

Habs Look To Avoid Elimination In Game 4

It’s just the third time in the last 22 years that a team has led 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.

Teams that lead 3-0 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win 26 of the 27 (.963) series all-time.

Tampa Bay, which opened at -270 to win the Cup, is now -10000 to repeat – a 99 per cent implied win probability.

If you bet $10 on the Lightning to win it all at this point, your potential net profit would be 10 cents.

On the flip side, Montreal went from +220 to +2500 to win the series.

While almost everyone will agree that coming back from a 3-0 deficit seems impossible at this point, the focus right now should be solely on Game 4.

As of this morning, the Canadiens are +140 to win tonight.

Tampa Bay is favoured to close it out at -160.

If the Habs are going to have any shot at extending the series with a win, the first goal will be crucial.

The Lightning are 15-2 when they score first this postseason – the first team in NHL history to win 15 games when scoring first in a single postseason.

Tampa Bay has outscored Montreal 14-5 in the series – the largest goal differential through three games since the 1997 Stanley Cup Final.

That first goal will be crucial as the Habs try to gain some confidence in an elimination game.

If the Lightning do close it out tonight, there’s a good chance that Andrei Vasilevskiy or Nikita Kucherov will be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP.

Vasilevskiy, who owns a .948 save percentage through the first three games of the series, is the current favourite to win the Conn Smythe at -135.

Kucherov, who has three goals and five points in the Stanley Cup Final, is up to 32 points in 21 games this postseason.

He’s the second choice to win the Conn Smythe at even money.

Brayden Point, whose 14 playoff goals are six more than any other scorer, is currently the third choice to win the Conn Smythe at +1000.

Suns, Bucks To Meet In NBA Finals

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks will meet in an unexpected matchup for the NBA Finals.

The Suns, which are looking for its first championship in franchise history, opened as the favourite to win it all at -180.

This will be Phoenix’s third NBA Finals appearance.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee opened at +160 to win the title.

The Bucks are chasing their second championship and first since 1971.

While Milwaukee’s path back to the Finals has been unexpected to say the least, I’m all in on the Suns as one of the remarkable stories of the year.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Phoenix is just the fourth team in the last 50 years to go from the worst record in the NBA to a Finals appearance in a four-year span.

The Suns were a 20-to-1 long shot to win the title when the playoffs started.

After defying the odds from the start of the season, Phoenix is now four wins away from a championship.

I’ll be cheering on the Suns when the NBA Finals get underway with Game 1 on Tuesday night on TSN.  

“Manic Monday” Underway On TSN

Right now on TSN, you can catch exclusive live coverage of the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Every single Round of 16 match on both the men’s and women’s side will be played today – it’s the final year that Wimbledon will continue this tradition before switching up its tournament format by breaking up the Round of 16 matches in 2022.

Novak Djokovic remains the favourite to win the tournament on the men’s side at -185.

Djokovic, who won this year’s Australian Open and the French Open, will take on Cristian Garin for a spot in the quarterfinal.

Djokovic is -10000 to beat Garin – the second time that number has appeared in this column.

Roger Federer is a -350 favourite against Lorenzo Sonego.

Meanwhile, it’s the first time that multiple Canadians have reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon on the men’s side in the Open Era.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov is -150 to beat Roberto Bautista Agut (+120).

Felix Auger-Aliassime is a +250 underdog versus Alexander Zverev (-333).

On the women’s side, Ashleigh Barty remains the betting favourite to win the tournament at +275.

The reigning World No. 1 in singles will battle the reigning World No. 1 in doubles when Barty takes on Barbora Krejcikova this morning.

Barty entered the match as a -300 favourite.

You can catch complete coverage of the Round of 16 live now on TSN 1/4/5, TSN.ca, TSN Direct and watch simultaneous streams on the TSN Multiplex.

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