Apr 21, 2022
Morning Coffee: McDavid Reaches Another Milestone In Oilers Win
In addition to inching closer to locking up second place in the Pacific Division, the Oilers also did one of their Canadian rivals a favour by preventing Dallas from picking up a single point. Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Thursday, April 21st, 2022.
Connor McDavid reached the 70-assist mark for the fourth time in his career on Wednesday night.
It’s just his seventh NHL season, but he already has two more 70-assist seasons than the next closest active skaters in Sidney Crosby and Joe Thornton (2).
McDavid scored his 43rd goal and finished with three points in a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars.
The Edmonton Oilers have won three straight and are now 9-1-1 over their last 11 games dating to March 28th.
In addition to inching closer to locking up second place in the Pacific Division, the Oilers also did one of their Canadian rivals a favour by preventing Dallas from picking up a single point.
Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Thursday, April 21st, 2022.
McDavid Reaches Another Milestone In Win
With three points against the Stars, McDavid is up to 13 points in nine games in April.
He’s gone over 1.5 points in five of those nine games.
FanDuel had him at -102 to go over 1.5 points last night.
McDavid pulled two points clear of Jonathan Huberdeau for the league lead with 113 points.
He was +110 to win the Art Ross Trophy at FanDuel Sportsbook heading into last night’s action.
FanDuel also has McDavid as the second choice to win the Hart Memorial Trophy at +300.
Only Auston Matthews (-300) has shorter odds.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t that long ago that the Oilers’ goaltending situation was considered a major weakness.
That has not been the case at all in April.
Mike Smith made 34 saves against the Stars to improve to 7-0-0 with a 1.57 goals-against average, a .954 save percentage and two shutouts this month.
With exactly eight days remaining in the regular season, Edmonton is four points up on the Los Angeles Kings for second in the Pacific with one game in hand.
The Oilers won’t catch the Calgary Flames for first in the division, but they can lock up home-ice advantage for a first-round series and maintain their momentum heading into the postseason with a strong finish.
Speaking of the playoffs, Bruce Boudreau and company had to be happy when Edmonton beat the Stars in regulation.
The Vancouver Canucks are four points back of Dallas for the final Wild Card.
They’re five points back of the Kings for third in the Pacific with a game in hand.
Now, they have to take care of their own business, coming of a shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
The Canucks are a +152 ML underdog for tonight’s game at the Minnesota Wild.
Los Angeles is a -250 ML favourite against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Stars visit the Flames – they’re a +184 ML underdog playing their second game in as many nights.
For those wondering, the “everything goes Vancouver’s way parlay” featuring the Canucks, Flames and Blackhawks to win pays +1018 at FanDuel Sportsbook.
The “fade the Canucks to make the playoffs parlay” featuring the Wild, Kings and Stars pays +518.
Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights bounced back from consecutive losses with a 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals.
Vegas is two points back of Dallas for the final Wild Card, with one more game played.
The Knights are three points back of the Kings with both teams set to play three more games.
While the playoff field is almost set in the Eastern Conference, there’s still a lot left to be determined in the Western Conference over the next eight days.
Embiid Breaks Hearts In Toronto
Joel Embiid closed as the second choice to win NBA regular season MVP at FanDuel Sportsbook this season.
On Wednesday night, he gave the city of Toronto a quick demonstration of his MVP skill set in person.
Embiid went for 33 points, and 13 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 104-101 in overtime to take a 3-0 series lead.
Toronto, which never trailed in regulation, blew a 17-point lead – the largest blown lead in franchise history.
It was Heartbreak City for anybody that bet on the Raptors to win or cover as a two-point underdog.
It was even worse for anybody that also bet on Embiid to go under 32.5 points, as his three-point shot with 0.7 seconds remaining in overtime pushed him over on his points prop.
Looking ahead, the 76ers are a three-point favourite for Game 4 on Saturday night in Toronto with a chance to close out the series.
The Raptors are +124 to extend the series to five games with a win.
While nobody is giving Toronto a chance to win the series down 3-0, anybody that bet on the series to go six or seven games will already have to be thinking about hedging their bets with Philly money line for Game 4.
NBA teams are 143-0 all-time when taking a 3-0 series lead.
For what it’s worth, FanDuel has the Raptors at +3500 to win four straight games and advance.
Celtics Take 2-0 Series Lead
The Brooklyn Nets have never won a playoff series after trailing 2-0.
That’s not what anybody who bet the Nets to win their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics wants to see this morning.
The Celtics beat Brooklyn 114-107 last night to take a 2-0 series lead.
Looking at the adjusted series prices at FanDuel Sportsbook, Boston is now -430 to advance.
The Nets are +340 to win four of the next five games.
Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan went for 41 points, seven rebounds, and four assists as the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-110 to tie their series 1-1.
The Bulls are now +210 to win that series at FanDuel, heading home for Game 3 and Game 4.
Milwaukee is still -255 to win the series