The Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars to take a slight edge in the season series. Will they meet again in the postseason? Also, the Predators are back in the second wildcard spot in the west, and the Eastern Conference race still has far too many teams to count out.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — April 5.

Colorado Hockey Now

What an incredible performance from the Avalanche on Saturday. They completely shut down the Dallas Stars, holding them to only 17 shots on their way to a shutout victory that all but confirmed they’ll be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Will these teams meet again in the postseason?

Martin Necas had the game-winner and an assist. Did you know that Necas had a hand in nine of the 11 goals the Avalanche scored against the Dallas Stars in four regular-season games?

Around The NHL

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks and Preds had the most entertaining game of the night. The final result put Nashville back in the second wildcard spot with an all-important regulation win that will keep them there even if San Jose wins its game in hand.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Dead Wings are back. At least that’s what it feels like. The only thing keeping the Wings in the playoff race is all the other teams around them also losing.

Ottawa Hockey Now: That includes the Senators, who got shut down by the Minnesota Wild. The Red Wings face Minnesota today.

Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins are comfortably in the top wildcard spot, but a loss to the Lightning means they’ve now lost two in a row.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Huge milestones for both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in a whopping 9-4 victory over the Panthers. It’s sad to see how close we are to the end of that era.