After Game 3 win over Buffalo, Montreal's Stanley Cup odds shorten to +950
- Montreal crushed Buffalo 6-2 in Game 3 on May 10, taking a 2-1 second-round series lead and forcing sportsbooks to reprice the East. - Alex Newhook scored twice again, Cole Caufield had a goal and assist, and Montreal’s Cup price tightened to roughly +900 to +950. - Buffalo opened Round 2 as the market favorite, but one lopsided loss flipped momentum and pushed the Sabres down the board.
Montreal didn’t just win Game 3. The Canadiens changed the shape of the betting market in one night. A 6-2 rout of Buffalo on Sunday, May 10, gave them a 2-1 series lead in the second round, and sportsbooks immediately treated that result like more than a single-game swing. The new number is the point — Montreal’s Stanley Cup price shortened into the +900 to +950 range, while Buffalo drifted out. ### What actually happened in Game 3? The score got ugly fast after Buffalo’s bright start. Tage Thompson scored 53 seconds in, but Montreal answered with four straight goals and rolled to a 6-2 win at Bell Centre. Alex Newhook scored twice for the second straight game, and Cole Caufield added a goal and an assist as Montreal outshot Buffalo 36-28. (nhl.com) ### Why did the odds move so much? Because futures markets are really shorthand for two things — how likely a team is to survive its current series, and how dangerous it looks after that. Before Game 3, Buffalo and Montreal were being priced in the same neighborhood by some books. After Montreal took the series lead with a blowout, that balance broke. Covers showed the Canadiens moving from +1050 to +900 and Buffalo dropping from +1250 to +1700 on May 11. (nhl.com) ### So where does the +950 number come from? Different books, different snapshots. DraftKings’ team page showed Montreal at +950 when checked on May 12, while ESPN’s futures page at one point showed Montreal +1300 and Buffalo +1300, which tells you how fast these numbers can lag or diverge depending on when the page updates. Basically, the headline number is real as a market snapshot, but not every sportsbook will match it at the same moment. (sports.yahoo.com) ### Why is Montreal getting more respect now? Because this stopped looking fluky. Montreal split the first two games in Buffalo, then came home and controlled Game 3 after the opening minute. Newhook scoring two more matters. Caufield producing matters. The Canadiens also won the transition game and generated more volume, which is exactly the kind of profile bettors trust more after a series swings to 2-1. (sportsbook.draftkings.com) ### Why did Buffalo’s number get hit harder? A team can lose and still look fine. Buffalo didn’t. The Sabres were the side with the better pre-series reputation, and that means disappointment gets punished faster. One ugly road loss doesn’t end a series, but if you entered Round 2 as the sturdier team and then got run off the ice in Game 3, the market reads that as a warning sign, not bad luck. (nhl.com) ### Does this mean Montreal is suddenly a favorite? No — not overall. Carolina and Colorado were still shorter on the board, and Vegas remained ahead of Montreal at many books. What changed is tier placement. Montreal moved from interesting underdog to credible Cup threat, which is a big jump even if the Canadiens are still not the top choice. (news.sportsinteraction.com) ### What should readers take from the move? Odds like +950 are the market saying Montreal now has a real path, not that the Cup is likely. That price implies belief, but also plenty of uncertainty. One more Buffalo win in Game 4 could swing the number back again. ### Bottom line Game 3 wasn’t just a win on the scoreboard. It was the night Montreal turned a live series into a live futures ticket. (sports.yahoo.com)
