UPDATE:
After the season wrapped up, Bryan Murray wasted little time in starting the ball of change rolling, beginning with himself. He stepped aside and the Senators named Pierre Dorion as his successor.
That probably means Dave Cameron will indeed follow, as it won't be on Murray's watch that another coach is fired, and it will fuel speculation (see below) as to who the next coach will be.
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It is tough that the season is ending earlier than anyone hopes, and there isn't a lot of satisfaction in forcing a divisional rival to also miss the playoffs (while ensuring another one does), but ending the season on a winning note is better than a losing one.
The Bruins didn't have their own fate in their hands even if they had won, but Tuukka Rask or no Tuukka Rask, you have to think that the team, management and fan base expected a much better effort in a season-deciding game than they put forth in Ottawa's 6-1 win.
The 6-1 is sort of misleading given that the Bruins gave up two shorthanded empty net goals in the third period but they put themselves in that situation by allowing 4 goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period to get behind the 8 ball and force desperation moves.
The Senators 2 shorthanded goals gives them 17 on the season, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau notched his 7th, tying Daniel Alfredsson's franchise record. Zack Smith added his 5th shortie of the year, his second of 2 goals that allowed him to finish with 25, 11 more than his previous career high of 14.
Erik Karlsson added an assist, giving him 82 points in 82 games, tied for 4th in NHL scoring and 7 point up on Brent Burns in terms of blueliner scoring.
Phil Varone was called up earlier in the day, and notched his first assist with the club in his first game on Matt Puempel's goal that made it 3-1. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Neil also scored for Ottawa.
Andrew Hammond ended his season on a winning note, making 39 saves for the win.
The loss and the Bruins missing the playoffs is of particular interest to Ottawa fans, as it likely means Claude Julien will get his pink slip and immediately move to the top of the wish list of Senators fans. However, don't get too excited, because a coach of his pedigree is going to be well sought after and also command a pretty large price tag. You would think with a Stanley Cup and another Finals under his belt that he would be in the $4-$4.5M price range, not quite Mike Babcock's $6.5 but certainly would be able to auction his services off to the highest bidder. And Ottawa doesn't have a great track record of opening up the wallet, especially for a coach.
Not saying they shouldn't or couldn't, but I don't see it happening.
So tomorrow let the dissecting begin, because there are no more game day...