After their improbable sweep of the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final, the Vegas Golden Knights have time to recuperate while they await their opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.They will sit and watch as the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens continue to battle in the Eastern Conference final. The Hurricanes hold a 2-1 series lead, with Game 4 tonight at Bell Centre. There’s no question Vegas will be rooting for seven grueling games between the sides, but which team should the Golden Knights prefer to emerge?It’s an interesting question, and the answer differs depending on how it is approached.From a betting odds perspective, which is essentially just a reflection of the public’s perception of the teams, the Golden Knights should clearly prefer to face Montreal. In a hypothetical series between Vegas and Montreal, oddsmakers have the Golden Knights as minus-137 favorites. That’s an implied win probability of 57.8 percent.TeamOddsVegas Golden Knights-137Montreal Canadiens+114Meanwhile, the same odds would have Vegas as a plus-146 underdog against Carolina, which is an implied win probability of only 40.7 percent.TeamOddsCarolina Hurricanes-178Vegas Golden Knights+146Beyond that, the Golden Knights and Hurricanes are both currently plus-105 to win the Stanley Cup, while the Canadiens are a distant plus-950 in the futures market. However you look at it, the betting market clearly believes Montreal is the weakest of the three remaining teams.Interestingly, the results of the regular season say the opposite. The Golden Knights played both of their potential opponents twice this season. They beat Carolina in both meetings, while losing both matchups to Montreal.It’s been a while since the Hurricanes and Golden Knights faced off, as both regular-season meetings occurred in an eight-day span in late October. On Oct. 20, Vegas raced out to an early 2-0 lead at T-Mobile Arena and cruised to a 4-1 win. A little more than a week later, the Golden Knights scored four consecutive third-period goals to come from behind and win 6-3 in Raleigh.The Hurricanes were the most dominant possession team in the NHL during the regular season, and have continued that in the playoffs. Albeit in an incredibly limited sample size, the Golden Knights have done better than most teams against Carolina in that department. Vegas was one of only three teams to hold an edge over the Hurricanes in shot attempts (98-95) and shots on goal (49-37) at even strength this season.It’s worth wondering how much those results actually mean, considering how different both teams look compared to October. Akira Schmid was in net for both of those games for Vegas, and is now the third goalie. Carter Hart has yet to face Carolina as a member of the Golden Knights, but is 4-6-1 in his career against the Hurricanes with a .913 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average.Frederik Andersen was in net for both contests against Vegas this season, and struggled with a .864 save percentage. Over his career, Andersen is 5-6-0 against Vegas with a .901 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average.