# 2011–12 Nashville Predators season

The 2011–12 Nashville Predators season was the club's 14th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

## Off-season

On June 22, 2011, the Predators revealed a new team logo, secondary logo and wordmarks. The Predators new away jerseys were unveiled at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and their new home jerseys were unveiled at an event on July 13.

## Regular season

In November 2011, it was announced that W. Brett Wilson had purchased a 5% interest in the Nashville Predators.
The Predators were involved in some controversy when it was announced that Alexander Radulov would make his return to the Predators after leaving for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2008. Radulov, still in his final year of his entry-level contract with the Predators, did not need to clear waivers to return to the Predators.
The Predators finished the season with the league's best power-play percentage at 21.60% (54 for 250).

## Playoffs

The Predators ended the 2011–12 regular season as the Western Conference's fourth seed. They defeated the fifth-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round series, 4–1. The Predators lost in the second round to the Phoenix Coyotes. During the series against the Coyotes, Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn were suspended by the team for being seen in a bar, breaking curfew.

## Standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 45 | 210 | 165 | +45 | 109 |
| 2 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 43 | 237 | 210 | +27 | 104 |
| 3 | x – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 39 | 248 | 203 | +45 | 102 |
| 4 | x – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 38 | 248 | 238 | +10 | 101 |
| 5 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 29 | 46 | 7 | 25 | 202 | 262 | −60 | 65 |
Western Conference :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | NW | p – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 51 | 22 | 9 | 43 | 249 | 198 | +51 | 111 |
| 2 | CE | y – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 45 | 210 | 165 | +45 | 109 |
| 3 | PA | y – Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 36 | 216 | 204 | +12 | 97 |
| 4 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 43 | 237 | 210 | +27 | 104 |
| 5 | CE | x – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 39 | 248 | 203 | +45 | 102 |
| 6 | CE | x – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 38 | 248 | 238 | +10 | 101 |
| 7 | PA | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 43 | 29 | 10 | 34 | 228 | 210 | +18 | 96 |
| 8 | PA | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 40 | 27 | 15 | 34 | 194 | 179 | +15 | 95 |
| 9 | NW | Calgary Flames | 82 | 37 | 29 | 16 | 34 | 202 | 226 | −24 | 90 |
| 10 | PA | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 35 | 211 | 222 | −11 | 89 |
| 11 | NW | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 32 | 208 | 220 | −12 | 88 |
| 12 | NW | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 24 | 177 | 226 | −49 | 81 |
| 13 | PA | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 31 | 204 | 231 | −27 | 80 |
| 14 | NW | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 27 | 212 | 239 | −27 | 74 |
| 15 | CE | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 29 | 46 | 7 | 25 | 202 | 262 | −60 | 65 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2011–12 Game Log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Martin Erat | 71 | 19 | 39 | 58 | 12 | 30 |
| David Legwand | 78 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 3 | 26 |
| Mike Fisher | 72 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 11 | 33 |
| Shea Weber | 78 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 21 | 46 |
| Ryan Suter | 79 | 7 | 39 | 46 | 15 | 30 |
| Sergei Kostitsyn | 75 | 17 | 26 | 43 | 8 | 34 |
| Patric Hornqvist | 76 | 27 | 16 | 43 | 9 | 28 |
| Craig Smith | 72 | 14 | 22 | 36 | −9 | 30 |
| Colin Wilson | 68 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 5 | 21 |
| Jordin Tootoo | 77 | 6 | 24 | 30 | −5 | 92 |
| Matt Halischuk | 73 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 9 | 27 |
| Nick Spaling | 77 | 10 | 12 | 22 | −7 | 18 |
| Kevin Klein | 66 | 4 | 17 | 21 | −8 | 4 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 43 | 7 | 12 | 19 | −2 | 6 |
| Roman Josi | 52 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 14 |
| Andrei Kostitsyn$^†$ | 19 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 10 |
| Francis Bouillon | 66 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 33 |
| Ryan Ellis | 32 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 4 |
| Jonathon Blum | 33 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −14 | 6 |
| Alexander Radulov | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Brandon Yip$^†$ | 25 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| Jack Hillen | 55 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| Hal Gill$^†$ | 23 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Jerred Smithson$^‡$ | 52 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −7 | 30 |
| Paul Gaustad$^†$ | 14 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Blake Geoffrion$^‡$ | 22 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 17 |
| Brian McGrattan | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 61 |
| Niclas Bergfors$^‡$ | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
| Cal O'Reilly$^‡$ | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 2 |
| Zack Stortini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Kyle Wilson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Teemu Laakso | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 8 |
| Ryan Thang | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Mueller | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Mattias Ekholm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| David Legwand | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| Alexander Radulov | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Fisher | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 8 |
| Martin Erat | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 6 |
| Ryan Suter | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 4 |
| Andrei Kostitsyn | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Kevin Klein | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 2 |
| Patric Hornqvist | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Francis Bouillon | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Shea Weber | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 9 |
| Nick Spaling | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Paul Gaustad | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 5 |
| Brandon Yip | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 6 |
| Sergei Kostitsyn | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 |
| Matt Halischuk | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Colin Wilson | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Craig Smith | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Hal Gill | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jordin Tootoo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jack Hillen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Roman Josi | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 10 |
| Ryan Ellis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts
Regular season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Pekka Rinne | 73 | 4169 | 43 | 18 | 8 | 166 | 2.39 | 2153 | .923 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Anders Lindback | 16 | 792 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 2.42 | 364 | .912 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Pekka Rinne | 10 | 609 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 2.07 | 296 | .929 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Predators. Stats reflect time with the Predators only. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Pekka Rinne | NHL Second Star of the Week | December 19, 2011 |
| Pekka Rinne | NHL Second Star of the Week | January 30, 2012 |
| Pekka Rinne | NHL Third Star of the Month | January 2012 |
| Martin Erat | NHL Third Star of the Week | March 19, 2012 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Craig Smith | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | October 7, 2011 |
| Craig Smith | 1st Career NHL Assist | October 8, 2011 |
| Mattias Ekholm | 1st Career NHL Game | October 13, 2011 |
| Pekka Rinne | 100th Career NHL Win | October 29, 2011 |
| Ryan Thang | 1st Career NHL Game | October 31, 2011 |
| Francis Bouillon | 100th Career NHL Assist | November 5, 2011 |
| Patric Hornqvist | 200th Career NHL Game | November 8, 2011 |
| Ryan Suter | 200th Career NHL Point | November 8, 2011 |
| Nashville Predators franchise | 1,000th NHL Game | November 12, 2011 |
| Jordin Tootoo | 100th Career NHL Point | November 22, 2011 |
| Roman Josi | 1st Career NHL Game | November 26, 2011 |
| Pekka Rinne | 200th Career NHL Game | December 1, 2011 |
| Roman Josi | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | December 3, 2011 |
| Jerred Smithson | 500th Career NHL Game | December 3, 2011 |
| Jack Hillen | 200th Career NHL Game | December 6, 2011 |
| Brian McGrattan | 200th Career NHL Game | December 8, 2011 |
| Roman Josi | 1st Career NHL Goal | December 10, 2011 |
| Ryan Ellis | 1st Career NHL Game | December 26, 2011 |
| David Legwand | 800th Career NHL Game | December 26, 2011 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 1st Career NHL Game | December 28, 2011 |
| Ryan Suter | 500th Career NHL Game | December 28, 2011 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | January 5, 2012 |
| Ryan Ellis | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | January 7, 2012 |
| Mike Fisher | 200th Career NHL Assist | January 7, 2012 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 1st Career NHL Assist | January 10, 2012 |
| Matt Halischuk | 100th Career NHL Game | February 4, 2012 |
| David Legwand | 300th Career NHL Assist | February 14, 2012 |
| Andrei Kostitsyn | 100th Career NHL Goal | March 3, 2012 |
| Mike Fisher | 400th Career NHL Point | March 6, 2012 |
| Martin Erat | 300th Career NHL Assist | March 18, 2012 |
| Kevin Klein | 300th Career NHL Game | March 20, 2012 |
| Sergei Kostitsyn | 300th Career NHL Game | March 22, 2012 |
| Alexander Radulov | 100th Career NHL Point | March 30, 2012 |
| David Legwand | 500th Career NHL Point | March 31, 2012 |
| Ryan Suter | 200th Career NHL Assist | March 31, 2012 |
| Pekka Rinne | 25th Career NHL Shutout | April 5, 2012 |

## Transactions

The Predators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2011–12 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 2, 2011 | To Washington Capitals Taylor Stefishen | To Nashville Predators Conditional 7th-round pick in 2013 |
| June 25, 2011 | To Los Angeles Kings 3rd-round pick in 2011 | To Nashville Predators 6th-round pick in 2011 3rd-round pick in 2012 |
| June 25, 2011 | To New York Rangers 6th-round pick in 2011 | To Nashville Predators 6th-round pick in 2012 |
| July 2, 2011 | To New York Rangers Andreas Thuresson | To Nashville Predators Brodie Dupont |
| July 3, 2011 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Cody Franson Matthew Lombardi Conditional 4th-round pick in 2013 | To Nashville Predators Brett Lebda Robert Slaney Conditional 4th-round pick in 2013 |
| October 28, 2011 | To Phoenix Coyotes Cal O'Reilly | To Nashville Predators 4th-round pick in 2012 |
| February 17, 2012 | To Montreal Canadiens Blake Geoffrion Robert Slaney 2nd-round pick in 2012 | To Nashville Predators Hal Gill Conditional 5th-round pick in 2013 |
| February 24, 2012 | To Florida Panthers Jerred Smithson | To Nashville Predators 6th-round pick in 2012 |
| February 27, 2012 | To Montreal Canadiens 2nd-round pick in 2013 Cancellation of 5th-round pick (formerly conditional) in 2013 | To Nashville Predators Andrei Kostitsyn |
| February 27, 2012 | To Buffalo Sabres 1st-round pick in 2012 | To Nashville Predators Paul Gaustad 4th-round pick in 2013 |
* ↑ Condition not satisfied.
* ↑ Condition satisfied.
* ↑ Condition satisfied.
* ↑ Condition satisfied.
Player signings
PlayerDateContract terms
Mattias EkholmMay 12, 20113 years, $2.7 million entry-level contract
Teemu LaaksoJune 15, 20111 year, $675,000
Matthew HalischukJuly 7, 20112 years, $1.425 million
Chris MuellerJuly 7, 20111 year, $550,000
Cal O'ReillyJuly 7, 20111 year, $1.05 million
Nick SpalingJuly 7, 20112 years, $2.1 million
Sergei KostitsynJuly 8, 20111 year, $2.5 million
Brodie DupontJuly 8, 20111 year, $550,000
Craig SmithJuly 26, 20112 years, $1.43 million entry-level contract
Shea WeberAugust 3, 20111 year, $7.5 million
Pekka RinneNovember 3, 20117 years, $49 million contract extension
Joonas RaskMarch 23, 20122 years, $1.2 million entry-level contract
Anthony BitettoMarch 29, 20122 years, $1.23 million entry-level contract
Josh ShallaApril 18, 20123 years, $1.785 million entry-level contract
Patrick CehlinJune 5, 20123 years, $1.77 million entry-level contract :

## Draft picks

Nashville's picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Previous Team |
| 2 | 38 (from New Jersey) | Magnus Hellberg | G | Sweden | Almtuna IS (Allsvenskan) |
| 2 | 52 | Miika Salomaki | RW | Finland | Karpat (SM-liiga) |
| 4 | 94 (from Florida) | Josh Shalla | LW | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 4 | 112 | Garrett Noonan | D | United States | Boston University (Hockey East) |
| 5 | 142 | Simon Karlsson | D | Sweden | Malmo Redhawks (Allsvenskan) |
| 6 | 170 (from Los Angeles) | Chase Balisy | C | United States | Western Michigan University (CCHA) |
| 7 | 202 | Brent Andrews | LW | Canada | Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |