# 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings season was the 86th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. The Red Wings finished the season with a 48–28–6 record and for the first time since 1990–91 season, the Red Wings did not finish first or second in their division, finishing third. Also, the Red Wings had their earliest playoff exit since 2006 against the Edmonton Oilers, losing to the Nashville Predators in five games.

## Off-season

On July 19, 2011, goaltender Chris Osgood announced his retirement from the NHL after 17 seasons. Osgood won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and will remain with the Red Wings organization, working with Detroit's goaltending prospects.

## Regular season

On February 12, against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings tied an NHL record of 20 consecutive home wins. The only two other teams to accomplish this feat was the 1930 Boston Bruins and the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers. On February 14, against the Dallas Stars, the Red Wings broke the NHL record of 20 consecutive home wins, becoming the first team to record 21 straight home wins. The streak was extended to 23 on February 19 with a win over the San Jose Sharks. The streak started on November 5, 2011, against the Anaheim Ducks. However, the streak ended at 23 games with a 4–3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on February 23, 2012.
The Red Wings tied the Tampa Bay Lightning for the fewest shorthanded goals scored during the regular season with two.

## Standings
### Divisional 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 |

### Conference standings

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 :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## 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 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 82 | 22 | 47 | 69 | 14 | 47 |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 70 | 19 | 48 | 67 | 21 | 14 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 81 | 23 | 43 | 66 | 18 | 14 |
| Johan Franzen | 77 | 29 | 27 | 56 | 23 | 40 |
| Jiri Hudler | 81 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 10 | 42 |
| Todd Bertuzzi | 71 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 23 | 64 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 82 | 15 | 21 | 36 | −2 | 38 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 70 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 21 | 28 |
| Danny Cleary | 75 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 2 | 30 |
| Ian White | 77 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 23 | 22 |
| Darren Helm | 68 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 5 | 12 |
| Drew Miller | 80 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 6 | 20 |
| Tomas Holmstrom | 74 | 11 | 13 | 24 | −9 | 40 |
| Justin Abdelkader | 81 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 62 |
| Brad Stuart | 81 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 16 | 29 |
| Jakub Kindl | 55 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 25 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 69 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 47 |
| Cory Emmerton | 71 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 14 |
| Brendan Smith | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 18 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Kyle Quincey$^†$ | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 29 |
| Chris Conner | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Jan Mursak | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Commodore$^‡$ | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| Doug Janik | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Patrick Eaves | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Fabian Brunnstrom | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Joakim Andersson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Riley Sheahan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −3 | 4 |
| Tomas Holmstrom | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 4 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −3 | 2 |
| Jiri Hudler | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 4 |
| Kyle Quincey | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 6 |
| Brad Stuart | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
| Ian White | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| Drew Miller | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Johan Franzen | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 8 |
| Cory Emmerton | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Bertuzzi | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 9 |
| Danny Cleary | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 |
| Justin Abdelkader | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 2 |
| Darren Helm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Regular season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Jimmy Howard | 57 | 3360 | 35 | 17 | 4 | 119 | 2.13 | 1496 | .920 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Joey MacDonald | 14 | 806 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 2.16 | 330 | .912 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ty Conklin | 15 | 805 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 44 | 3.28 | 378 | .884 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Jimmy Howard | 5 | 295 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 2.64 | 116 | .888 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Red Wings. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Jimmy Howard | NHL Second Star of the Week | November 14, 2011 |
| Niklas Kronwall | NHL Second Star of the Week | March 5, 2012 |

### Milestones

The Detroit Red Wings officially broke the NHL record for consecutive home games won, on February 14, 2012. They defeated the Dallas Stars by a score of 3–1, breaking the 1929–30 Boston Bruins and the 1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers previous record of 20 games. The streak ended at 23 wins after a shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on February 23, 2012.
Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Cory Emmerton | 1st career NHL assist | October 7, 2011 |
| Johan Franzen | 100th career NHL assist | October 15, 2011 |
| Johan Franzen | 400th career NHL game | October 21, 2011 |
| Brad Stuart | 800th career NHL game | October 21, 2011 |
| Fabian Brunnstrom | 100th career NHL game | October 22, 2011 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 1,500th career NHL game | October 22, 2011 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 1st career NHL game | November 1, 2011 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 600th career NHL game | November 11, 2011 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 400th career NHL game | November 12, 2011 |
| Brendan Smith | 1st career NHL game | November 17, 2011 |
| Brendan Smith | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | November 19, 2011 |
| Darren Helm | 200th career NHL game | November 23, 2011 |
| Joakim Andersson | 1st career NHL game | December 27, 2011 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 200th career NHL game | December 30, 2011 |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 700th career NHL game | December 31, 2011 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | January 3, 2012 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 200th career NHL point | January 3, 2012 |
| Niklas Kronwall | 200th career NHL point | January 7, 2012 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 400th career NHL game | January 7, 2012 |
| Daniel Cleary | 200th career NHL assist | January 12, 2012 |
| Jimmy Howard | 100th career NHL win | January 12, 2012 |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 700th career NHL point | January 16, 2012 |
| Jan Mursak | 1st career NHL assist | January 17, 2012 |
| Todd Bertuzzi | 300th career NHL goal | February 4, 2012 |
| Danny Cleary | 800th career NHL game | February 6, 2012 |
| Tomas Holmstrom | 1,000th career NHL game | February 10, 2012 |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 600th career NHL point | February 17, 2012 |
| Jiri Hudler | 200th career NHL point | February 21, 2012 |
| Jakub Kindl | 100th career NHL game | March 2, 2012 |
| Brendan Smith | 1st career NHL goal | March 2, 2012 |
| Brad Stuart | 300th career NHL point | March 4, 2012 |
| Joey MacDonald | 100th career NHL game | March 10, 2012 |
| Justin Abdelkader | 200th career NHL game | March 19, 2012 |
| Jiri Hudler | 400th career NHL game | March 19, 2012 |
| Gustav Nyquist | 1st career NHL goal | March 26, 2012 |
| Riley Sheahan | 1st career NHL game | April 7, 2012 |
Playoffs :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 50th career NHL playoff goal 100th career NHL playoff point | April 11, 2012 |

## Transactions

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

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 24, 2011 | To Ottawa Senators1st-round pick in 2011 | To Detroit Red Wings2nd-round pick in 2011 2nd-round pick in 2011 |
| February 19, 2012 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Sebastien Piche 1st-round pick in 2012 | To Detroit Red Wings Kyle Quincey |
| February 27, 2012 | To Tampa Bay Lightning Mike Commodore | To Detroit Red Wings Conditional 7th-round pick in 2013 |
Lost via retirement
Player
Brian Rafalski
Chris Osgood
Kris Draper
Lost via death
Main article: 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
PlayerCause
Ruslan Saleiplane crash
Player signings
PlayerDateContract terms
Adam AlmqvistMay 27, 20113 years, $1.775 million entry-level contract
Andrej NestrasilMay 31, 20113 years, $1.755 million entry-level contract
Nicklas LidstromJune 20, 20111 year, $6.2 million
Jonathan EricssonJuly 1, 20113 years, $9.75 million
Patrick EavesJuly 1, 20113 years, $3.6 million
Drew MillerJuly 1, 20112 years, $1.65 million
Logan PyettJuly 5, 20111 year, $525,000
Joey MacDonaldJuly 11, 20112 years, $1.1 million
Jordan PearceJuly 21, 20112 years, $1.05 million
Francis PareJuly 27, 20112 years, $1.115 million
Petr MrazekOctober 19, 20113 years, $1.815 million entry-level contract
Niklas KronwallOctober 31, 20117 years, $33.25 million contract extension
Todd BertuzziFebruary 23, 20122 years, $4.15 million contract extension
Xavier OuelletMarch 25, 20123 years, $2.1025 million entry-level contract
Ryan SproulMarch 25, 20123 years, $2.2275 million entry-level contract
Riley SheahanApril 5, 20123 years, $2.355 million entry-level contract
Teemu PulkkinenMay 29, 20123 years, $2.095 million entry-level contract
Calle JarnkrokMay 30, 20123 years, $2.145 million entry-level contract :

## Draft picks

| Round | Overall pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 2 | 35 (from Ottawa) | Tomas Jurco | RW | Slovakia | Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 48 (from Chicago via Ottawa) | Xavier Ouellet | D | France | Montreal Junior Hockey Club (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 55 | Ryan Sproul | D | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 3 | 85 | Alan Quine | C | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 4 | 115 | Marek Tvrdon | RW | Slovakia | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 5 | 145 | Philippe Hudon | C / RW | Canada | Choate Rosemary Hall (USHS-CT) |
| 5 | 146 (from Philadelphia) | Mattias Backman | D | Sweden | Linkopings HC (Elitserien) |
| 6 | 175 | Richard Nedomlel | D | Czech Republic | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) |
| 7 | 205 | Alexey Marchenko | D | Russia | CSKA Moscow (KHL) |