I think its crazy to think we don't have last locked up this year. This team is what it is, terrible. And we haven't had any bad injuries. When any of the few quality players go down, which is pretty inevitable this team will get worse. Need a win tonight!
Yeah, remember, the draft works like this... there's the lottery odds for non-playoff teams; then non-division winners eliminated in the first two rounds are placed in inverse order of regular-season points, followed by division winners in inverse order of regular-season points; then the same with the two teams eliminated in the conference finals; and finally the Cup runner-up and champion... so sure, there's the unknown variable of playoff success/failure, but basically, if STL and/or NYI make the playoffs, for the sake of better draft position (think 15-22 overall), we don't want them to be a division winner (which are seeded after non-winners, 23-26) nor to advance to at least the conference finals (27-30). It's a 15-22 pick if their postseason goes our way.
IMO, even tankers should want to win STL (and NYI) games in regulation, as that's four dropped points (and six for NYI) that they can't use to improve/maintain their standing. I'm not remotely worried about our cushion from 29th (18 GF, 1 ROW; 14 ROW + 14-pt cushion last season) right now and would rather see one of our dozen or so ROW's come tonight with STL dropping points. We're bound to win some games, so why not root to win games that otherwise could contribute to making the playoffs, home-ice advantage, or division titles for STL (and NYI)? I'd rather our wins come against them than teams they're in direct competition with (other Central or Metro teams).
Buffalo doesn't get extra credit for separation from 29th, so there's no rush to separate greatly early other than not making fans sweat our lottery odds a little longer and quell their back-of-the-mind fears of no McEichel. But really, how much more evidence do you need? Buffalo's healthy, constantly juggling the lineup, and still historically sucks with decent goaltending. If their health or goalies falter, they'll be even worse.
TL;DR, I think it's ok to win tonight too.