In all fairness, there've been games by both Dr. Craw and Emery in which they've tanked; not many, but 1-2 each max. But I do agree with You/RK and have said multiple times this year that Craw and Emery, while not perfect, are not the fucking issue. The D and special teams have bailed far more times than netminding.
I don't think the next game is worthless. Of the 4 possible opponents (Nashville, LA, SJ, and Phoenix), SJ is the only one in which we have a .500 record. LA, Phoenix, and Nashville we're .333 against them all: 2-4-0 against Nashville, and 1-2-1 against both LA and SJ, with the OTL coming in the shootout. Now, I don't count the shootout losses because they don't apply in the playoffs--hence the .333 record.
Now, for SJ to win it, they have to win their game and Phoenix has to perform worse than a point in one game and a ROW game in the other. That's long odds to hope to get 6th against a team in which we were only marginally better than all of Nashville, LA, and Phoenix. Further, We were able to pot 5 in regulation against Rinne--we've not had the same luck against Quick, Smith, ot Niemi. And lastly, how does Nashville compare to all three of those teams in terms of physicality?
Honestly, I would say that in light of all of that, the odds that we get SJ coupled with the consequences and our record if we don't, We might as well try for 5th--if for nothing else to drive a point home against the Wings.
