Moritz Seider described what it is like in the Detroit Red Wings' locker room as their quest to reach the playoffs intensifies daily.

They head into Sunday's matinee against the Buffalo Sabres still chasing the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, locked in an extremely tight race with a handful of teams. The Wings (37-31-8) have banked only four points in their last six outings, leaving them at 82 points with six games remaining.

The Wings can't afford to let the tension get to them; hence the importance of maintaining a convivial atmosphere.

"I think we try to make it easy on ourselves, try to be loose before a game, don’t really think about the outcome or what could happen with the standings," Seider said Saturday. "We just try to have fun playing soccer and having good talks in the locker room, getting a good laugh in, listening to some good tunes. Everything else will fall into place once we flip the switch to go on the ice, we’ll be ready to go go.

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"We talk about who’s coming into town, usually everyone has family coming in this last little stretch. It’s just lifestyle stuff — someone gets a new car, someone buys some new furniture — just little stuff that keeps you distracted from the game a little bit."

The Sabres are coming off a victory that gave them 79 points, with five games remaining. The Wings are coming off a loss that only served to reiterate what coach Derek Lalonde has been emphasizing: Every play matters.

"There’s a lot at stake and it’s the little details that really count," Dylan Larkin said. "It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been a part of games like that. It’s what we asked for. I do feel that we’ve figured it out — going back to that Washington game (on March 26), we had a lot of chances; we didn’t convert on them. You saw in Tampa, we didn’t get frustrated when we didn’t convert on our chances, we just kept going and going.

"There’s great learning in this, and it’s great for all of us to go through it, but we need more. We need more out of everyone. We need guys to be drivers, and that’s what we are going to need this week."

After Sunday, the Wings host the Washington Capitals and play at the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Wings need to win those not only to bank points themselves, but to keep points from opponents who are right there in the race with them.

Alex Lyon is slated to start against the Sabres. Michael Rasmussen will miss a second straight game because of an upper-body injury. Based on Saturday's practice, it looked like Olli Määttä may be available after dealing with an upper-body injury.

Whatever the lineup, the Wings cannot afford the sort of mistakes that cost them in the loss to the New York Rangers: Turnovers, being on the wrong side of the puck in the defensive zone, and failing to get back in time.

"Every single play matters," Seider said. "We have to make sure we play our best every single shift."

This is the first time players like Seider and Larkin have been in this kind of situation, playing games that matter this late in the season. Advancing to the playoffs is within reach, and that requires effort, execution — and keeping nerves in check.

"It’s the emotions of it, too, to stay even keeled — it’s hard," Lalonde said. "We probably played three what I would call pretty competitive games. You go back to the Florida game, very competitive, we played a really good game, found a way to get only one point. Maybe you emotionally level up after that game. Then you go into Tampa, we’re the only team to beat Tampa in weeks, find a way in the end; it’s an emotional high. Then (Friday), it was a very competitive game, now you find a way to lose it in the third period, it was such an emotional low.

"You have to stay even keeled and take care of what you can take care of. It still feels like if we just win, I feel we can still control our own destiny. We have a couple four-point games coming up next week, and it’s who wins that’s getting ahead. It’s about controlling the things you can control, and that’s winning your next game."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

Next up: Sabres

Matchup: Red Wings (37-31-8) vs. Buffalo (37-35-5).

Faceoff: 1 p.m. Sunday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: TNT; WXYT-FM (97.1).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings learning during playoff chase; can they close deal?