Dose: Sens pay the Price

Two games, two eliminations. Can you just smell the second round yet?

Let’s get to them.

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WILD 4, BLUES 1

-- So, the good news is that Ken Hitchcock took the Blues to the playoffs all four years, including the 2011-12 season, when he didn't even get a training camp to work with. The bad news is that Hitchcock hasn't had really any postseason success, only winning one series with St. Louis.

Honestly, I'm not so sure it's fair to can Hitchcock, but this was a pretty big letdown stacked on top of previous disappointments. What if the Blues' window - at least as a deep team - is closing?

Look, there's plenty of young talent (Vladimir Tarasenko most obviously), but you never know when the salary cap and other concerns can torpedo a contender. Especially after years of playoff letdowns.

-- One of the best Hitchcock moments came during the game, when he shot down the idea of taking Jake Allen out for Brian Elliott ... moments before an especially terrible goal allowed prompted Hitchcock to take out Allen.

It really wasn't a great playoff run for Allen, who only managed a .904 save percentage in the series. In a postseason where younger goalies got the hook with dizzying speed (Andrew Hammond, Scott Darling), Hitch might have been too loyal to Allen.

-- I joked about a week ago about Brian Elliott being the spiritual successor to Chris Osgood. Elliott is a good-but-not-great goalie who always seems to be the netminding bridesmaid, or at best a goalie teams seem to settle for.

Last season, Ryan Miller was traded in, knocking Elliott ot the bench. This time around, Allen had a hot streak going, snatching the gig from Allen.

-- Zach Parise came up big in Game 6, with one of his two goals coming shorthanded. He finished the series with seven points, including three goals. He only took 11 SOG in six games, so that means he enjoyed a 27.3 shooting percentage.

-- Devan Dubnyk finished up the series with an interesting run:

Game 6: 30 out of 31 saves, win

Game 5: 36 out of 37 saves, win

Game 4: six goals allowed on 17 shots, barely over half a game in a loss

Game 3: 17-save shutout

Pretty impressive stuff, even with that rough Game 4 gumming up the works.

-- If the Blues were a bigger market team, the likes of T.J. Oshie (goal in Game 6 or not), David Backes and so on would absorb a bunch of abuse as "chokers." I guess they're lucky in that regard.

-- Short of Tarasenko, Kevin Shattenkirk is the Blue with the least to be ashamed of, with eight assists in six games played.

CANADIENS 2, SENATORS 0

-- Quite the bonus for Max Pacioretty owners, as his empty-net goal came with less than a second remaining. P.K. Subban got the assist on that, too, so that's nice.

-- Check out the period-by-period SOG:

First: Montreal 13, Ottawa 13

Second: Montreal 3, Ottawa 16

Third: Montreal 4, Ottawa 14

The Senators generated a 43-20 advantage overall. That's pretty ridiculous, even with Carey Price Hart-ing it up.

-- If the Habs prove that they're really the second-best team in the East, it will happen later on in the postseason.

-- Clarke MacArthur had a great all-purpose game, even without a point and with a -1 rating. MacArthur had two PIM, five SOG and seven hits.

-- This marks the first time Ottawa has been shut out in 95 games, including the preseason, according to Sens communications. Wow.

-- Brendan Gallagher scored the only goal of the game, also managing four SOG. That marks just his second point of the series, as he's only connected on 4.5 percent of his 22 SOG.

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