The Montreal Canadiens are one win away from the Stanley Cup final.
They can advance with a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 at the Bell Center tonight.
The Habs had +375 to win their Stanley Cup semi-final series ahead of Game 1 against Vegas, making them the biggest underdog for a Stanley Cup semi-final since 1989, according to historical odds. sports.
That number jumped to +700 after the Golden Knights won Game 1.
Fast forward four games later, Montreal has a 3-2 best-of-seven lead and is the favorite to advance for the first time in the series to -175 – the return to Vegas is +155.
However, the Habs will be an outsider when they take the ice for tonight’s game.
As of this morning, the Canadiens are +125 to win Game 6 – the Golden Knights are -145.
Here is the Café du Matin on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Habs to a Stanley Cup Final win
While the Canadiens are within one win, two could be the magic number when they take the ice for Game 6 tonight.
Montreal is 10-0 in these playoffs when it scores two or more goals.
Carey Price, who has a .933 save percentage in the playoffs, has held Vegas to a two-goal aggregate in its last six regulation periods.
As good as Price has been throughout these playoffs, the Canadiens have been the better team in the last two games, despite losing the fourth game in overtime.
Price made 19 saves in Game 4 and 26 saves in Game 5 – two of his four lowest save totals so far in the playoffs.
There’s a good chance he’ll face a heavier workload tonight with Vegas facing elimination.
Meanwhile, Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer has yet to confirm which of his two goalies will get the green light tonight.
As good as Marc-André Fleury was all season, Robin Lehner stopped 27 of 28 shots he faced to lead Vegas to a victory at the Bell Center in Game 4.
Considering how difficult it was to solve Price since the start of the series, the Golden Knights will need a solid performance from the starting goalie to extend the series.
Islanders force Game 7 with overtime win
Anthony Beauvillier was the New York Islanders’ overtime hero (+130) in a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6.
After the Islanders recovered from 2-0 with goals from Jordan Eberle and Scott Mayfield to force overtime, Beauvillier delivered the winner at just 1:08 in extra frame to force a Game 7.
It was the third time in franchise history that the Isles had come back from a multi-goal deficit to win while facing elimination.
Meanwhile, the big question mark for the Lightning is the status of Nikita Kucherov, who left with an injury after his first shift.
Kucherov, who leads all playoff scorers with 27 points, came out shortly after a Mayfield counter-failure that was not penalized.
Tampa Bay is 13-0 after a playoff loss dating back to 2019.
However, they could do without their top scorer for the winner’s final.
Meanwhile, Brayden Point conceded again at +150 to score in Game 6 to extend his playoff goal streak to nine in a row.
He will have the chance to equal the all-time NHL playoff record in Game 7 on Friday night.
Young propels Hawks to upset Game 1
Trae Young scored a career-high 48 points in the playoffs as the Atlanta Hawks (+285 ML) defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 116-113 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
This is the third straight series in which the Hawks have won Game 1 on the road.
Young was instrumental in that first success of the series, averaging 38.3 points per game in Atlanta’s three wins in Game 1.
Despite retiring from the first game, Milwaukee is still -200 to win the series.
The Hawks are +170 to qualify for the NBA Finals.
France, Portugal and Germany all come out of Group F
In the wake of the most significant day in the history of the Euro, the stage for the round of 16 is ready.
Cristiano Ronaldo dominated Wednesday’s action with two goals for Portugal in a 2-2 draw against France.
Ronaldo equaled Iranian Ali Daei for most international goals scored in men’s football history with his 109e.
While Portugal did enough to move forward, France took first place in Group F with the only point.
France was +140 to win the Group of Death at the start of the tournament.
Speaking of the death group, Germany also advanced to the round of 16 after coming together twice in a 2-2 draw against Hungary.
Hungary entered this match at +2000 to win.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, it would have been the biggest underdog win in any UEFA competition this season had they been able to hold out.
As it stands, the draw itself was considered quite unlikely at +850.
Meanwhile, Spain (-500) tied the biggest margin of victory in Euro history with a 5-0 victory over Slovakia, but it was not enough to take the top spot in the group E.
That’s because Sweden (+180) got a late goal from Viktor Claesson to beat Poland 3-2 and take first place in their group.
Sweden were the third pick to win Group E with odds of +600.
Of the six favorites to win their respective groups, Spain was the only one who did not live up to expectations.
Preparations for the PGA KPMG Women’s Championship
The PGA Women’s KPMG Championship kicks off this morning.
Inbee Park is the consensus favorite to win the tournament at +1200, followed by Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko at +1400.
Canadian Brooke Henderson, who won the event in 2016, is just outside the top 10 picks to win the event at odds of +2800.
TSN Edge golf analyst Adam Scully shattered Henderson’s chances of claiming his second career major win this week.