from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
"It’s just important," coach Jeff Blashill said. "It’s way better to win — you walk in and feel way better about yourself. But there’s lots on the line for lots of people. Ultimately we want to continue to grow and you only grow by taking steps forward and the checking, the completeness of our game, we’ve got to continue to grow in that area and I certainly thought we did that."
It matters, even with just five games left, that they show growth in front of general manager Steve Yzerman, who flew Tuesday from Detroit to Tampa to watch in person.