The best hockey player in the world nearly sunk his team’s chances before remembering who he is.
The NCAA is going through its own identity crisis at the moment, and we mean that in a good way…Â
McDavid Stumbles, Shines
What Happened: Connor McDavid showed off an important skill in helping his Edmonton Oilers to a series-opening Game 1 2OT victory over the Dallas Stars— a short memory.
Edmonton’s captain endured a hellish first overtime period, putting his team on a four minute penalty kill because of a high-sticking double minor he took fewer than 20 seconds into overtime. He also found himself in front of the net with a golden opportunity to put the puck home, only for Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to snuff out the opportunity.
But McDavid wasted no time in the second OT period, scoring 32 seconds in and stealing a game on the road for the second-seed Oilers. It was the kind of victory that shifts series…
Why It Matters: …and shift the odds have.
As the higher seed, starting on home ice, Dallas was given the edge by oddsmakers. The Stars opened as -115 favorites to emerge from the Western Conference, while Edmonton was -105.
This morning, you can get the Oilers to advance with odds at -180, while Dallas is now a +152 underdog at Caesars.
If McDavid has more heroics up his sleeve, then get in now before the odds on the Oilers battling for the Cup only go up. But if you saw a double-overtime loss as nothing more than a fluke, now’s as good a time as any to buy some Stars stock.
How We’re Feeling Today
Ding-dong the witch is dead! And by “witch” we mean the NCAA. And by “dead” we mean weakened. But hey, a win’s a win.
For the first time in college sports history, the NCAA and Power 5 conferences will let schools pay players both past and present. This comes after the NCAA was involved in three federal antitrust lawsuits.
There’s probably some shady business in the legalese of the agreement, but for now, we’ll just say it’s about time. For decades, student-athletes have been producing billions of dollars of revenue for the NCAA and schools and seeing exactly zero of it.
Now, when entertaining sports contests generate money and interest, the actual players on the field/court will profit. What a novel idea! No wonder it took over 100 years to figure out.
The Look Ahead
Adam Fox SOG – If you decide to play Fox and his 1.5 line for shots tonight, you should know that the Panthers have been stingy on defense, allowing the second-fewest shots of any team this postseason at 24 per game. But we have seen plenty of usage from the Rangers defenseman lately; following a zero shot Game 3 against the Hurricanes, Fox has produced four multi-shot games in a row. Losing 3-0 at home should cause New York to come out swinging heavily tonight, and Fox will anchor those efforts from the blueline.
