# 2011–12 Los Angeles Kings season

The 2011–12 Los Angeles Kings season was the 45th season (44th season of play) for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. Although they finished the season with 95 points, and the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, they went on to capture the first Stanley Cup championship in team history.

## Regular season

On December 12, 2011, the Kings fired head coach Terry Murray and named John Stevens interim head coach. On December 20, 2011, the Kings hired Darryl Sutter to be their head coach, replacing Stevens.
With only one month to play in the regular season, the Kings were tenth in the Western Conference, two seeds away from a playoff spot. Their defense and goal tending being the only highlights throughout most of the season, highlighted by Jonathan Quick and Drew Doughty. The offense was loaded with talent, but unable to find any kind of significant consistency. Until the final month and a half, when they proceeded to go 12–4–3 in their final 19 games as their offense finally caught fire and started scoring the goals they lacked earlier in the year. They secured the eighth and final playoff seed in their 81st (and second-to-last game), a shoot-out loss to their arch rivals, the San Jose Sharks.
Out of the Kings' 82 regular season games, 21 ended in a shutout; the Kings were shut-out ten times, the most of any NHL team in the regular season.

## Playoffs

The Kings made the playoffs for the third consecutive season, needing a win in the final game to secure the eighth seed. The Kings also became the second team to eliminate the first, second and third seeds from the playoffs in the same post-season (after the 2003–04 Calgary Flames), as well as the only team to win the Stanley Cup after defeating the first, second and third seeds in sequence. (Darryl Sutter was the head coach of both the 2003–04 Flames and 2011–12 Kings.) They then defeated the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals, becoming the first eighth seed in North American professional sports history to win a championship. They are also one of the few teams to win a championship after never benefiting from home-venue advantage in the post-season after the 1994-95 New Jersey Devils. Los Angeles would start every series by winning the first three games, only sweeping the St. Louis Blues.

## Standings

Pacific Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 36 | 216 | 204 | +12 | 97 |
| 2 | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 43 | 29 | 10 | 34 | 228 | 210 | +18 | 96 |
| 3 | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 40 | 27 | 15 | 34 | 194 | 179 | +15 | 95 |
| 4 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 35 | 211 | 222 | −11 | 89 |
| 5 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 31 | 204 | 231 | −27 | 80 |
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

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Anze Kopitar | 82 | 25 | 51 | 76 | 12 | 20 |
| Justin Williams | 82 | 22 | 37 | 59 | 10 | 44 |
| Dustin Brown | 82 | 22 | 32 | 54 | 18 | 53 |
| Mike Richards | 74 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 3 | 71 |
| Drew Doughty | 77 | 10 | 26 | 36 | −2 | 69 |
| Willie Mitchell | 76 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 20 | 44 |
| Jack Johnson$^‡$ | 61 | 8 | 16 | 24 | −12 | 24 |
| Jarret Stoll | 78 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 60 |
| Slava Voynov | 54 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 12 | 12 |
| Simon Gagne | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −1 | 18 |
| Dustin Penner | 65 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 43 |
| Matt Greene | 82 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 58 |
| Dwight King | 27 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 10 |
| Alec Martinez | 51 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −1 | 8 |
| Kyle Clifford | 81 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 123 |
| Rob Scuderi | 82 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −7 | 16 |
| Jeff Carter$^†$ | 16 | 6 | 3 | 9 | −1 | 2 |
| Colin Fraser | 67 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 67 |
| Brad Richardson | 59 | 5 | 3 | 8 | −6 | 30 |
| Trent Hunter | 38 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −4 | 8 |
| Trevor Lewis | 72 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 26 |
| Andrei Loktionov | 39 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 2 |
| Ethan Moreau | 28 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −3 | 20 |
| Jordan Nolan | 26 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| Scott Parse | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Kevin Westgarth | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 39 |
| Davis Drewiske | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Dustin Brown | 20 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 34 |
| Anze Kopitar | 20 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 9 |
| Drew Doughty | 20 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 14 |
| Justin Williams | 20 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 12 |
| Mike Richards | 20 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 1 | 17 |
| Jeff Carter | 20 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| Dustin Penner | 20 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 32 |
| Trevor Lewis | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
| Dwight King | 20 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| Matt Greene | 20 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Jarret Stoll | 20 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
| Willie Mitchell | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
| Alec Martinez | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Slava Voynov | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Colin Fraser | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
| Jordan Nolan | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| Rob Scuderi | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| Brad Richardson | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Simon Gagne | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Andrei Loktionov | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Clifford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Jonathan Quick | 69 | 4099 | 35 | 21 | 13 | 133 | 1.95 | 1863 | .929 | 10 |
| Jonathan Bernier | 16 | 890 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 35 | 2.36 | 383 | .909 | 1 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Jonathan Quick | 20 | 1238 | 16 | 4 | 29 | 1.41 | 538 | .946 | 3 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Kings. Stats reflect time with the Kings only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Bold/italics denotes franchise record. Underline denotes currently with a minor league affiliate.

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Jonathan Quick | NHL First Star of the Week | October 24, 2011 |
| Jonathan Quick | NHL Third Star of the Week | December 5, 2011 |
| Jonathan Quick | NHL Third Star of the Week | January 2, 2012 |
| Jonathan Quick | Conn Smythe Trophy | June 11, 2012 |
| Los Angeles Kings | Best Upset ESPY Award | July 11, 2012 |
| Jonathan Quick | Best NHL Player ESPY Award | July 11, 2012 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Slava Voynov | 1st career NHL game | October 18, 2011 |
| Jonathan Quick | 100th career NHL win | October 20, 2011 |
| Anze Kopitar | 400th career NHL game | October 22, 2011 |
| Slava Voynov | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 27, 2011 |
| Jarret Stoll | 300th career NHL point | November 8, 2011 |
| Jack Johnson | 300th career NHL game | November 16, 2011 |
| Trevor Lewis | 100th career NHL game | November 16, 2011 |
| Matt Greene | 400th career NHL game | November 22, 2011 |
| Kevin Westgarth | 1st career NHL goal | November 23, 2011 |
| Kyle Clifford | 100th career NHL game | November 28, 2011 |
| Jonathan Quick | 200th career NHL game | November 28, 2011 |
| Davis Drewiske | 100th career NHL game | December 6, 2011 |
| Trent Hunter | 100th career NHL goal | December 8, 2011 |
| Drew Doughty | 100th career NHL assist | December 15, 2011 |
| Rob Scuderi | 500th career NHL game | January 14, 2012 |
| Anze Kopitar | 400th career NHL point | January 15, 2012 |
| Mike Richards | 500th career NHL game | February 9, 2012 |
| Jordan Nolan | 1st career NHL game | February 11, 2012 |
| Dwight King | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | February 12, 2012 |
| Jordan Nolan | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | February 12, 2012 |
| Willie Mitchell | 700th career NHL game | February 28, 2012 |
| Drew Doughty | 300th career NHL game | March 8, 2012 |
| Alec Martinez | 100th career NHL game | March 9, 2012 |
Playoffs :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Dwight King | 1st career NHL playoff game | April 11, 2012 |
| Jordan Nolan | 1st career NHL playoff game | April 11, 2012 |
| Slava Voynov | 1st career NHL playoff game | April 11, 2012 |
| Andrei Loktionov | 1st career NHL playoff game | April 13, 2012 |
| Jeff Carter | 50th career NHL playoff game | April 18, 2012 |
| Slava Voynov | 1st career NHL playoff goal 1st career NHL playoff point | April 28, 2012 |
| Matt Greene | 1st career NHL playoff goal | April 28, 2012 |
| Jon Quick | 10th career NHL playoff win | April 28, 2012 |
| Dwight King | 1st career NHL playoff goal 1st career NHL playoff point | May 3, 2012 |
| Jordan Nolan | 1st career NHL playoff goal 1st career NHL playoff point | May 6, 2012 |
| Dustin Penner | 50th career NHL playoff game | May 13, 2012 |
| Mike Richards | 75th career NHL playoff game | May 17, 2012 |
| Rob Scuderi | 75th career NHL playoff game | May 22, 2012 |
| Jarret Stoll | 50th career NHL playoff game | May 30, 2012 |
| Colin Fraser | 1st career NHL playoff goal | May 30, 2012 |
| Alec Martinez | 1st career NHL playoff goal | June 4, 2012 |

## Transactions

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

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2011 | To Philadelphia Flyers Brayden Schenn Wayne Simmonds 2nd-round pick in 2012 | To Los Angeles Kings Rob Bordson Mike Richards |
| June 25, 2011 | To Nashville Predators 6th-round pick in 2011 3rd-round pick in 2012 | To Los Angeles Kings 3rd-round pick in 2011 |
| June 26, 2011 | To Edmonton Oilers Ryan Smyth | To Los Angeles Kings Colin Fraser 7th-round pick in 2012 |
| October 12, 2011 | To Philadelphia Flyers Future considerations | To Los Angeles Kings Stefan Legein 6th-round pick in 2012 |
| February 23, 2012 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Jack Johnson Conditional 1st-round pick in 2012 or 2013 | To Los Angeles Kings Jeff Carter |
Player signings
PlayerDateContract terms
Jean-Francois BerubeMay 23, 20113 years, $1.62 million entry-level contract
Linden VeyMay 23, 20113 years, $2.37 million entry-level contract
Nicolas DeslauriersMay 31, 20113 years, $1.825 million entry-level contract
Alec MartinezJuly 8, 20112 years, $1.475 million
Brad RichardsonJuly 13, 20112 years, $2.35 million
Trevor LewisJuly 15, 20112 years, $1.45 million
Marc-Andre ClicheJuly 15, 20111 year, $525,000
Richard CluneJuly 15, 20111 year, $605,000
David MecklerJuly 15, 20111 year, $577,500
Andrew CampbellJuly 15, 20111 year, $577,500
Patrick MullenJuly 15, 20111 year, $632,500
Jeff ZatkoffJuly 15, 20111 year, $577,500
Kevin WestgarthSeptember 19, 20112 years, $1.45 million contract extension
Drew DoughtySeptember 30, 20118 years, $56 million
Andy AndreoffOctober 12, 20113 years, $1.755 million entry-level contract
Robert CzarnikOctober 12, 20113 years, $1.67 million entry-level contract
Willie MitchellFebruary 24, 20122 years, $7 million contract extension :

## Draft picks

LA 's picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 2 | 49 | Christopher Gibson | G | Finland | Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 80 | Andy Andreoff | C | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 3 | 82 (from Nashville) | Nick Shore | C | United States | University of Denver (WCHA) |
| 4 | 110 | Michael Mersch | LW | United States | University of Wisconsin (WCHA) |
| 5 | 140 | Joel Lowry | LW | Canada | Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) |
| 7 | 200 | Michael Schumacher | LW | Sweden | Frolunda HC Jr. (J20 SuperElit) |

## Farm teams
### Manchester Monarchs (AHL)

The 2011–12 season will be the 11th season of AHL hockey for the franchise. The Monarchs clinched a playoff berth as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs and faced the Norfolk Admirals, where they were defeated 3 games to 1.

### Ontario Reign (ECHL)

The 2011–12 season will be the fourth season of ECHL hockey for the franchise since moving to Ontario from Texas. It saw the Reign capture their second Pacific Division Regular Season championship and their second playoff berth. However, the Reign lost to the Idaho Steelheads in the first round of the 2012 Kelly Cup playoffs. The Reign have never advanced past the first round in their franchise history.