Morning Coffee: Leafs Nation couldn’t script better start to Battle of Ontario

If you had asked Leafs Nation to write the script for the first two games of the Battle of Ontario, it might have looked a little something like this.

Set the tone for the series with a blowout win in Game 1.

Give the fans a little drama with a clutch overtime win in Game 2.

Of course, it’s only fitting that Max Domi scored the OT winner that propelled the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators last night.

The last time the Maple Leafs led 2-0 in a playoff series, Domi was cheering on his father as a seven-year-old.

Tie Domi, who celebrated along with the rest of Leafs Nation in attendance last night, registered an assist in the win that gave Toronto a 2-0 series lead over the New York Islanders in the 2002 Eastern Conference quarter-finals.

23 years later, Max did something his father never did in 98 career NHL playoff games – score an overtime winner.

Domi’s first of the postseason placed the Maple Leafs firmly in the driver’s seat in the latest installment of the Battle of Ontario.

Toronto to advance past the first round is now -710 at FanDuel – an 87.7 per cent implied probability.

Now the series shifts to Ottawa with Leafs Nation aiming to maintain a sense of home ice advantage by filling up the Canadian Tire Centre with blue and white jerseys for Game 3 on Thursday night.

To turn this series around, the Senators are going to have to overcome the odds and do something that’s never been done before in franchise history.

This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday April 23rd, 2025.

Leafs Nation couldn’t script better start to Battle of Ontario

The Senators have trailed 2-0 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series nine times before.

They’re 0-9 all-time in that scenario.

Of course, if you’re cheering for Ottawa to advance, there would be no better time to buck that trend than against your biggest rival in the Battle of Ontario.

After rallying from down two goals on the road to force overtime, Brady Tkachuk and Adam Gaudette appeared to provide Ottawa with the spark it needed to potentially even up the series.

However, Domi quickly halted any momentum the Senators had generated with the winner just 3:09 into the extra frame.

Now the series shifts to Ottawa with FanDuel making the Senators a pick’em in a must-win spot for Game 3.

What are the odds that Ottawa wins the series?

FanDuel has the Senators at +490 to advance – a 16.9 per cent implied probability.

While Ottawa is in a tough spot, it’s worth highlighting that FanDuel gave the Senators shorter odds to advance than the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils.

Trailing the Winnipeg Jets 2-0 in the series, the Blues are +680 to advance at FanDuel as they head to St. Louis for Game 3 on Thursday night.

The Devils are +1000 to advance, trailing the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 as their series shifts to Newark for Game 3 on Friday night.

The Senators are a longshot to win the series, but they’re still considered more likely to advance than a couple of other teams that trail 2-0 in St. Louis and New Jersey.

Obviously, if you think that Ottawa can turn things around, then getting them at -110 to win Game 3 on home ice is a pretty good price.

At the same time, if you think Toronto will keep its foot on the gas and push the Senators to the brink of elimination with another win in Game 3, then you must be happy getting them at -110.

For Leafs Nation, it’s hard to ask for a better start to the series.

The Battle of Ontario isn’t over just yet.

That likely won’t be true for much longer if the Senators don’t find a way to flip the script in their favour in Game 3 on Thursday night.

Will Habs, Oilers bounce back in Game 2s tonight?

The Montreal Canadiens rallied to force overtime in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series on Monday night.

How much do the Habs have left in the tank for Game 2?

Montreal opened +152 at FanDuel and has since been bet up to +160.

Washington from -184 to -194 over the past 24 hours.

As impressive as it was to see the Canadiens force overtime, I worry about the toll that the physicality of the series will take on them.

Montreal was forced to play with a sense of urgency for months just to get into the postseason.

The fact that they must play a heavier, rested opponent in Washington makes the challenge of getting past the first round that much more difficult.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings combined for 11 goals in their opener, with the home team eventually coming out on top 6-5.

The Kings have dominated on home ice dating back to the regular season, so it’s no surprise they are -134 to win again tonight.

Edmonton opened +105 to win Game 2 but that number has since climbed to +112.

In terms of a FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll go with the over 5.5 total goals in tonight’s game between the Oilers and Kings.

Both teams have the potential to score in bunches, and I’m not sure that Edmonton can win a low scoring game in Los Angeles.

Even if we get only 55 per cent of the total goals scored in the opener, we’ll get another over in tonight’s game.

I’ll take the Oilers and Kings to go over 5.5 total goals as my FanDuel Best Bet.

Have a great day, everyone!