The Montreal Canadiens were 10 minutes away from clinching a Game 4 win to take a 3-1 series lead against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Instead, they’re headed back to Las Vegas with their Stanley Cup semifinal tied 2-2.

After Paul Byron scored the opening goal late in the second, Brayden McNabb tied it for the Golden Knights midway through the third to force overtime.

Nicolas Roy scored just 1:18 into the extra frame to complete the comeback and secure the 2-1 win.

Vegas, which was -475 to win the series before Game 1 and -1000 after it won the opener, was just -160 to advance entering Game 4.

After earning the split in Montreal, the Golden Knights are -350 to win the series.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Monday June 21, 2021.

Golden Knights rally to even series

Vegas didn’t seem to have much going offensively before McNab squeezed the tying goal past Carey Price with less than 10 minutes to go in the third. Montreal, which was a +155 underdog for Game 4, had outshot, outchanced and outscored the Golden Knights up until that point.

However, the Canadiens couldn’t find a way to get an insurance marker past Robin Lehner, who made 27 saves in his series debut.

It didn’t take long for Vegas to end it in overtime, as Roy ended it with his first career overtime playoff goal. Now the series shifts back to Las Vegas for Game 5.

With both Stanley Cup semifinal series tied 2-2, Montreal remains the biggest long shot to win the Cup of the four remaining teams at +900.

Vegas is the consensus favourite at +140, followed by the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning at +170 and the New York Islanders at +500.

As of this morning, the Golden Knights are -245 to win Game 5 – the comeback on the Habs is +215.

Rahm crowned U.S. Open champion

Jon Rahm is the 2021 U.S. Open champion.

Rahm became the first betting favourite to win the tournament since Tiger Woods did it in 2008.

It is his first career major victory.

Golf Talk Canada’s Mark Zecchino was all over Rahm as his pick to win the U.S. Open heading into the tournament.

That’s consecutive winners and a pair of runner-up finishes from the GTC guys over the past two weeks.

Make sure you check back in later this week to see if Mark, Bob Weeks and Adam Scully can keep it going with their picks for the Travelers Championship.

Hawks stun 76ers with Game 7 win

The Atlanta Hawks (+245 ML) stunned the Philadelphia 76ers with a 103-96 win in Game 7 on Sunday to book their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals.

Prior to Sunday’s game, No. 1 seeds that were favoured by five points or more in a Game 7 were 18-0 over the last 30 postseasons.

Philadelphia lost outright as a seven-point favourite.

It was the fourth straight Game 7 loss for 76ers’ head coach Doc Rivers.

Per ESPN Stats and Info, Rivers’ .341 win percentage in games with a chance to clinch a series is the worst all-time among coaches with 20-plus such games.

Meanwhile, the fifth-seeded Hawks are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2015.

Atlanta was the sixth choice to win the East at +3500 at the start of the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks were the third choice to win the East at +350.

As of this morning, we are still waiting on series prices for the Eastern Conference finals.

However, Milwaukee is now +105 to win the NBA title and Atlanta is +1100, so the expectation is that we will see a pretty significant disparity in the series odds as well.

Suns take opener versus Clippers

Devin Booker became just the fifth player in franchise history to record a postseason triple-double as the Phoenix Suns (-4) beat the Los Angeles Clippers 120-114 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday.

Booker finished with a game-high 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the victory.

His performance helped make up for the absence of Chris Paul, who is currently sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.

It was Phoenix’s eighth straight playoff win dating back to the first round – the longest streak in franchise history.

The Suns are the second choice to win the championship at +150.

The Clippers are currently +800 to win the title, trailing 1-0 in the Western Conference finals.

Italy, Wales advance at Euro

Group A favourite Italy (-180) clinched first place in its group with a 1-0 win over Wales on Sunday.

The Azzurri were -175 to win their group and -2000 to advance to the knockout stage.

Italy is now undefeated in its past 30 games, which matches the all-time team record.

Roberto Mancini’s men have also won each of their past 11 games via shutout – the longest stream in team history.

After they opened the tournament at +900 to win the title, Italy is now the second choice at +500, behind only France (+333).

Meanwhile, Wales advanced to the knockout stage in second place based on a better goal differential than Switzerland.

Gareth Bale and company were -120 to advance to the Round of 16.

The Swiss (-150) beat Turkey 3-1 on Sunday to keep its hopes of advancing as a third place team alive with four points.

Switzerland was -175 to advance before the tournament started.