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Morning Coffee: Maple Leafs reach 25-to-1 live in stunning comeback win
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Expecting success is the first step towards achieving it.
On a night when their fans might have expected the worst, the Toronto Maple Leafs rewarded them with the type of improbable comeback win that they could have only dreamed about in recent years.
On another night, Toronto might have folded after falling behind 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Instead the Maple Leafs rallied, pulling off a stunning comeback victory to move within one win of advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades.
This is the moment that hockey fans in Toronto have been waiting for. For the third time in the span of a week, the Maple Leafs found a way to win “the biggest game of the season”.
This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday April 25, 2023.
Maple Leafs reach 25-to-1 live in stunning comeback win
The Maple Leafs could be found as high as 25-to-1 to win Game 4 live at FanDuel in the third period.
To put that number in perspective, nine teams currently have shorter odds to win the Stanley Cup than FanDuel gave Toronto to win that game live down three goals.
What happened next had to be absolutely exhilarating for Maple Leafs fans and anyone who bet on Toronto to win.
Auston Matthews scored twice in a three-minute span to cut the deficit to 4-3.
I remember thinking in the moment that even if Toronto didn’t win the game, their fans would still consider the fact that they battled back from three goals down to tie it a major positive heading into Game 5.
Instead, Alexander Kerfoot buried a power-play goal in overtime to clinch the 5-4 win and send the Maple Leafs back home with a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Maple Leafs opened -152 on the money line for Game 5 at FanDuel.
As if there wasn’t already enough going on Thursday night, Toronto will have a chance to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004.
A FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday night
While Maple Leafs fans were celebrating their epic comeback win, I was turning my focus to Tuesday’s slate looking for a FanDuel Best Bet after a disappointing night.
First up, Akira Schmid made 22 saves as the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 3-1 to spoil my money line bet on the home team.
After outscoring the Devils 10-2 in back-to-back road wins to open the series, the Rangers were held to a single goal in back-to-back losses on home ice.
Later in the night, Nathan MacKinnon didn’t register a single shot on goal as the Seattle Kraken upset the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in overtime.
Keep in mind that MacKinnon had gone for 5+ shots on goal on 10+ shot attempts in each of the first three games of the series.
Turning the page to tonight’s action, there’s nothing that I absolutely love at a decent number.
The Edmonton Oilers are due for a dominant win on home ice, especially coming off a monumental comeback victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night.
While I don’t want to lay the juice with Edmonton, I’d rather find a way to get that number down from -225 than bet on the Oilers to win in regulation.
I’ll parlay Edmonton to win with the Boston Celtics to beat the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of their first round series tomorrow night at -157 as my FanDuel Best Bet.
I also bet a three-team parlay with all three NBA favourites to win by 2+ points on the alt spread at -150.
Meanwhile, with the first round of the NFL Draft just over 48 hours away, I locked in my second bet at FanDuel on Monday morning.
I bet on Hendon Hooker to be a first-round pick at even-money.
There’s bound to be a ton of conversation surrounding who goes where in the final countdown to the NFL Draft over the next 24 hours.
Give me a follow @DomPadulaEDGE on Twitter and I’ll make sure to tweet out my plays for the first round as I continue to add to my NFL Draft card in the coming days.
Jets finally agree to a trade for Rodgers
After a long wait, it’s finally official. Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of the New York Jets.
The Jets agreed to a trade for the four-time NFL MVP from the Green Bay Packers on Monday.
New York will receive Rodgers, the 15th overall pick and a fifth-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft in exchange for the 13th-overall pick, a second-round pick, a sixth-round pick and a conditional 2024 second-round pick that would become a first-round pick if Rodgers plays 65 per cent of plays this season.
The Jets opened at 16-to-1 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.
They’re down to 14-to-1 as the sixth choice to win it all behind only the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals.
Rodgers, who is one of two players in NFL history to win four different NFL MVP awards, is the seventh choice to win regular season MVP at 16-to-1 at FanDuel.
New York has missed the playoffs in 12 consecutive seasons, which is the longest active streak in the league and the longest in franchise history.
The Jets are currently -162 to make and +132 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel.
Meanwhile, the Packers will turn to 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love as Rodgers’ replacement at quarterback.