The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially headed to playoffs with home-ice advantage for the opening round.

Before they turned the page on their regular season, their MVP had one more important piece of business to address.

Auston Matthews scored his 59th and 60th goals of the season in a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night. 

Matthews became the first Maple Leaf and the first U.S.-born player to score 60 goals in a season. 

He’s one of only three active players to hit that milestone.

He’s also just the ninth different player in the last 30 years to register both 60+ goals and 100+ points in a single season.

Matthews entered last night as the clear top choice to win the Hart Memorial Trophy at FanDuel Sportsbook.

After hitting the 60-goal mark for the first time in his young career, Matthews’ odds to win the Hart at FanDuel were on the move once again. 

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Wednesday, April 27th, 2022.

Matthews Cements Status As Hart Favourite

After going a season-high five straight games without a goal, I guess you could say that the league’s best scorer was due for a big night. 

It was the return of Matthews The Money Maker. 

Line them up.

Matthews to score a goal was -148 at FanDuel.

Matthews to score 2+ goals was +265. 

It was his 15th multi-goal effort – matching Rick Vaive’s record for the most by a Maple Leaf in a single season.

Matthews to score and Toronto to win by 3+ goals cashed at +162.

Meanwhile, anybody that bet on Matthews to go over 1.5 points, to record a power-play point, or to go over 4.5 shots on goal was also a winner.

As mentioned, Matthews’ odds to win the Hart were on the move once again at FanDuel.

Matthews entered last night at -300 to win the Hart.

Connor McDavid was +300 as the second choice.

McDavid registered four points in a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to reach a career-best 122 points this season.

He’s just the fifth player in the past 20 years to reach 120 points in a season.

Despite hitting another milestone, McDavid’s Hart price didn’t change at all.

Meanwhile, Matthews is now -310 to win that award.   

No other player has shorter than 10-to-1 odds to win the Hart.

In addition to the return of Matthews The Money Maker, Jack Campbell shut the door with 20 saves for the shutout.

After clinching the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division, the focus for Toronto will shift to the playoffs, where they will need Campbell to be at his absolute best next week.

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1, making it more likely to be the Lightning and Maple Leafs in the first round.

Earlier this week, FanDuel had a Toronto Special for whether or not the Maple Leafs would advance to the second round with the “No” option at +110.

Now that it’s become pretty clear that Toronto will face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in the opening round, there’s a good chance we will see a much different price for that special if it pops up again, as even the hardcore Leafs fans might consider an emotional hedge getting Tampa Bay at plus-money to win that series.

Knights On Verge Of Elimination

The Vegas Golden Knights desperately needed a regulation win over the Dallas Stars last night to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Instead, they blew two separate one-goal leads and lost the game in a shootout.

While the Golden Knights still technically aren’t officially eliminated yet, the Stars need just one point against either the Arizona Coyotes or the Anaheim Ducks over their final two games to officially clinch. 

Meanwhile, Vegas limps into its final two games in the midst of a 1-2-2 stretch in which it blew leads against Dallas and the San Jose Sharks in back-to-back shootout losses.

The Golden Knights were -2000 to make the playoffs at the start of the season.

According to the odds, the only team that was considered more likely to make the playoffs was the Colorado Avalanche.

Vegas was +1040 to miss the postseason.

Heat Book Ticket To Second Round

The Miami Heat clinched their spot in the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 97-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 last night.

With Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry sidelined, Victor Oladipo led the way with 23 points as Miami took care of business as a -190 money line favourite.

The top-seeded Heat are the fourth choice to win the NBA championship at +550 right now at FanDuel.

Meanwhile, Chris Paul led the way with 22 points and 11 assists as the Phoenix Suns (-6.5) beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-97 to take a 3-2 series lead.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had my doubts about the Suns after their Game 4 disaster, but they took care of business last night, even with a major disparity in free throw attempts in favour of the Pelicans once again. 

Phoenix remains the second choice to win the title at FanDuel at +430.

The Golden State Warriors are still the favourite to win it all at +320.