Will the Avs and VGK play for win today?
because the winner of this game will play against CHI and the loser against ARI
You clearly go for the win.
Realistically from an Avs POV you should be the heavy favorite against both teams but both teams certainly have the potential to upset you as well...
The Yotes have a scary goalie combined with a sometimes pretty stifling D that could shutdown our speed game pretty well.
The Hawks are one of the few teams that can keep up when it comes to firepower upfront and our forwards and have a ton of battle tested superstars to go with a few scary younger guys like Kubalik, Dach and DeBrincat but their D and G looked a bit like a clownshow and highly exploitable....
I'd personally pick Chicago because I think the games would be more fun to watch.
Also winning tonight gives you the guarantee that you will play the lowest seed till the end. And considering how bad Dallas and to a lesser extent the Blues have looked so far, odds are that you might get a potential Chicago/Yotes - Calgary/Vancouver road to the WCF against the Knights..
Who knows how things turn out and there is a chance that the Avs could lose against any of these teams but in general that looks like one of the easier paths to the WCF I have seen lately...