Morning Coffee: Habs stun Panthers, open door for Maple Leafs in Atlantic

Remember when the Mighty Ducks had to play Iceland?

That blowout loss in the Junior Goodwill Games mirrored how many hockey fans expected things to play out for the Montreal Canadiens in their home-and-home series against the Florida Panthers.

The Canadiens were supposed to get smoked as the clear underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Instead, the Habs flipped the script with a Flying V-style miracle comeback win at the Bell Centre last night and bolstered their playoff chances with a pair of upsets.

Since the hockey ghosts love a good script, Montreal’s memorable double upset also helped give its biggest rival a little boost in the race for the Atlantic Division crown.

This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday April 2^nd, 2025.

Habs stun Panthers, open door for Maple Leafs in Atlantic

The Canadiens playoff chances took a major gut punch with a five-game winless drought in late March.

With a home-and-home against the Stanley Cup favourite on deck, Montreal’s odds to make the playoffs ballooned to +196 at FanDuel.

Fortunately for the Habs, a couple of other key Wild Card contenders failed to take advantage of the situation, and the Canadiens responded with a pair of wins over the Panthers to change the complexion of the playoff race.

Montreal upset Florida as a +230 underdog on Sunday.

Last night, the Habs stunned the Panthers with a 3-2 overtime win as a +130 underdog on home ice.

Captain Nick Suzuki was the hero again as he scored the tying goal with 8.4 seconds left in regulation, then netted the overtime winner just 29 seconds into the extra frame.

Meanwhile, rookie phenom Lane Hutson has emerged as the obvious Calder Trophy favourite at -1050 at FanDuel after he assisted on all three of Montreal’s goals last night to give him six assists over his last two games.

Per the FanDuel traders, 25 per cent of the handle in the Calder Trophy market is on Hutson to win the award.

Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov accounts for 35 per cent of the handle but is now a distant third choice to win the Calder at +3500 behind Hutson and Macklin Celebrini (+900) of the San Jose Sharks.

Montreal improved to 4-0-0 versus Florida this season.

The Canadiens are now two points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games to go.

Their next four games are against opponents currently outside of a playoff position.

Montreal’s odds to make the playoffs were cut from +196 to +102 at FanDuel.

Watching the fans at the Bell Centre celebrate last night’s epic win in an electric atmosphere was another reminder that the NHL is that much better off when the Canadiens are a playoff contender.

Hopefully, the Habs can finish what they started.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens ended up helping their biggest rival with a pair of wins over the Panthers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one point clear of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the best record in the Atlantic Division and two points up on Florida with eight games remaining for all three teams.

Tonight, the Maple Leafs will host the Panthers in a clash with major implications in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto is -122 to win tonight on home ice and +120 to win the Atlantic Division at FanDuel.

Florida is +102 to win tonight and +290 to win its division.

The idle Lightning, which beat the New York Islanders 4-1 last night to stretch their win streak to four in a row, will visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

Tampa Bay is now the second choice to win the Atlantic at +150 odds.

Per the FanDuel traders, a whopping 81 per cent of the bets and 71 per cent of the handle is on the Maple Leafs to win their division.

Next up is Florida with 20 per cent of the handle.

Tampa Bay accounts for only nine per cent of the handle in FanDuel’s Atlantic Division winner market.

With two games remaining against the Panthers and one more to go against the Lightning, the Maple Leafs have a golden opportunity to lock up top spot in their division and secure a home playoff series against a Wild Card opponent in the first round.

If they can take advantage of the situation and finish atop the division standings, Toronto would likely get either Ottawa or Montreal in the first round of the playoffs.

The worst-case scenario is the Maple Leafs fall to the third seed in the division and concede home ice advantage to Florida or Tampa Bay in a first round series.

Toronto is +700 to reach the Stanley Cup Final and +1600 to win it all at FanDuel this morning – longer odds than both the Panthers and the Lightning.

Their biggest rival just handed them a gift with a couple of upset victories they had no business winning. 

Now the door is wide open for Auston Matthews and this current Maple Leafs core to take control of the division and set the stage for a deep postseason run.

We’ll learn a lot about how prepared they are for the moment when they host the Panthers tonight.

A FanDuel Best Bet To Consider For Wednesday Night

The Habs aren’t the only NHL team that pulled off a dramatic comeback win last night.

Trailing the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 late in the third period, Jordan Kyrou delivered the tying goal for the St. Louis Blues with 29 seconds left in regulation.

Cam Fowler was the unlikely overtime hero with his first goal since 2018 as the Blues pushed their win streak to 10 in a row.

St. Louis improved to 16-2-2 since the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Suddenly, the Blues are -1200 to make the playoffs.

That comeback also cashed my best bet SGP with Zachary Bolduc to register 1+ shot on goal and St. Louis to win.

Turning the page this morning, I’ll lock in Matthew Knies 2+ shots on goal at -132 as a FanDuel Best Bet.

Knies had five shots on goal in the previous meeting versus Florida.

He’s registered 2+ shots on goal in three straight and seven of his previous eight games overall.

Skating on the top line with Matthews and Mitch Marner at 5-on-5 and on the top power play unit, Knies should have plenty of opportunities to get us the two shots on goal that we need against the Panthers.

I’ll lock in Knies 2+ shots on goal at -132 as a FanDuel Best Bet for Wednesday night.

Have a great day, everyone!