Mar 29, 2022
Morning Coffee: Draisaitl vs. Matthews In Rocket Richard Trophy Race
Leon Draisaitl scored his 48th goal of the year Monday night to move into a tie with Matthews for the NHL goal-scoring lead. Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Tuesday, March 29th, 2022.
Auston Matthews leads the National Hockey League with 0.80 goals per game this season.
He might need to maintain that pace to hold off Leon Draisaitl and win the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Draisaitl scored his 48th goal of the year Monday night to move into a tie with Matthews for the NHL goal-scoring lead.
The Edmonton Oilers have 15 games left on their regular-season schedule, which means 15 more potential opportunities for Draisaitl to add to his goal-scoring total.
Meanwhile, Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs have 17 games left in the regular season, including a showdown with the rival Boston Bruins tonight.
As of this morning, Matthews remains the favourite to win the Rocket at -180, followed by Draisaitl at +160.
Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Tuesday, March 29th, 2022.
Draisaitl, McDavid Lead Oilers To Win Over Coyotes
Draisaitl finished with a goal, an assist and six shots on goal to help lead the Oilers (-420 ML) to a 6-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night.
Edmonton -2.5 cashed at +120.
The total went over 6.5.
Draisaitl, who has seven goals in his last four games, is up to 0.72 goals per game this season.
In case you missed it, heading into last night’s action, our very own “Mystic Mike” Johnson weighed in on the Rocket Richard Trophy race.
Meanwhile, Connor McDavid scored his 36th of the year against the Coyotes, extending his point streak to 10 games.
He’s the only player in the NHL to record multiple double-digit point streaks this season.
With 98 points, McDavid is two points clear of Draisaitl for the league lead and eight points clear of Johnny Gaudreau and Jonathan Huberdeau, who are tied for third with 90 points each.
In the Hart Trophy futures market, McDavid remains the third choice at +450.
Matthews is the favourite at +170.
Igor Shesterkin is the second choice at +400.
Shesterkin, who is also the favourite to win the Vezina Trophy at -400, is expected to get the start tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Edmonton improved to 7-2-1 in its last 10 games, dating back to March 9th.
The Oilers were -130 to make the playoffs on March 9th.
As of this morning, Edmonton is -550 to make the playoffs.
Next up, the Oilers will host the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night before welcoming the St. Louis Blues to town on Friday night.
While the Kings are also fighting for a playoff spot, they’ll be coming off an ugly 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on home ice on Monday night.
The Kraken were a +170 money line underdog.
The Buffalo Sabres (+145) rallied from down four goals to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 in the other upset in the NHL last night, as favourites went 3-2.
Meanwhile, it was another good night for anybody betting on a goal in the first 10 minutes.
All five NHL games featured a goal in the first 10.
Siakam Delivers All-NBA Performance In Win Over Celtics
Pascal Siakam scored a game-high 40 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 115-112 win over the Boston Celtics in overtime.
Toronto won as a -375 money line favourite.
Boston covered the spread as an 8.5-point underdog.
The 15 points in overtime were more than enough to push the total over 212.
All five Raptors’ starters finished with double-digit point totals.
However, Scottie Barnes, O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. went under their point props.
Toronto has won three straight and nine of its last 11 overall to improve to 43-32.
With a win and another loss by the Chicago Bulls, the Raptors are now tied with Chicago for fifth in the Eastern Conference with seven games to go.
On March 10th, Toronto was -190 to make the playoffs.
As of this morning, the Raptors are now -1800 to get into the dance.
Toronto is back in action against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
After that, the Raptors will play four of their final six games against opponents currently in 10th place or lower in the Eastern Conference standings.
Can North Macedonia Pull Off Another Stunner?
Five days ago, North Macedonia shocked the soccer world with a 1-0 win over Italy as a +2100 underdog in World Cup Qualifying.
That upset eliminated Italy from World Cup contention.
Fast-forward less than one week later; North Macedonia is back in action this afternoon with a chance to take down another soccer power and clinch a World Cup berth.
North Macedonia will visit Portugal in a 2022 UEFA World Cup qualification play-off final this afternoon.
Portugal is currently -2500 to qualify for the next round.
North Macedonia is +1040 to advance and +1400 to win on the money line.
Meanwhile, Sweden and Poland will meet in another World Cup qualification play-off.
Sweden has won six straight head-to-head meetings between those sides, but Poland is -142 to qualify, while Sweden is +116 to win and book its spot in Qatar.