# 2011–12 Boston Bruins season

The 2011–12 Boston Bruins season was the 88th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 1, 1924. The Bruins entered the 2011–12 season as the defending Stanley Cup champions.

## Off-season

Veteran forward Mark Recchi retired. Forward Michael Ryder went to the Dallas Stars via free agency, and defenseman Tomas Kaberle went to the Carolina Hurricanes. Forward Benoit Pouliot was signed.

## Regular season

The Bruins' opened the regular season with a home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, whom they had swept in round two of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs just five months earlier. They recorded their first regular season success against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 8, a 4–1 home victory against their 2011 Conference Final opponents. The Bruins closed out the month of October with a home-and-home series defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, en route to the worst start by a defending champion since the current playoff platform was adopted in 1994. The back-to-back losses at the hands of their hated rivals proved the catalyst to a resurgence that saw the team secure at least a point in every game through November, the first time the franchise went undefeated in regulation for an entire calendar month since January 1969. During this run, defending Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas posted a 9–0–0 record and earned First Star honors for the month.
With a win over the New York Islanders on March 31, the Bruins clinched an Eastern conference playoff berth. On April 1, the Bruins won the Northeast Division title by defeating the New York Rangers, 2–1.
The Bruins allowed only one shorthanded goal all the season, the lowest total of all 30 teams.

## Playoffs

The Boston Bruins qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. The Bruins lost in the first round to the Washington Capitals in a seven-game series 4–3.

## Standings

Northeast Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Boston Bruins | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 40 | 269 | 202 | +67 | 102 |
| 2 | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 35 | 249 | 240 | +9 | 92 |
| 3 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 32 | 218 | 230 | −12 | 89 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 31 | 231 | 264 | −33 | 80 |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 31 | 35 | 16 | 26 | 212 | 226 | −14 | 78 |
Eastern Conference :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | z – New York Rangers | 82 | 51 | 24 | 7 | 47 | 226 | 187 | +39 | 109 |
| 2 | NE | y – Boston Bruins | 82 | 49 | 29 | 4 | 40 | 269 | 202 | +67 | 102 |
| 3 | SE | y – Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 26 | 18 | 32 | 203 | 227 | −24 | 94 |
| 4 | AT | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 51 | 25 | 6 | 42 | 282 | 221 | +61 | 108 |
| 5 | AT | x – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 47 | 26 | 9 | 43 | 264 | 232 | +32 | 103 |
| 6 | AT | x – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 36 | 228 | 209 | +19 | 102 |
| 7 | SE | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 38 | 222 | 230 | −8 | 92 |
| 8 | NE | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 35 | 249 | 240 | +9 | 92 |
| 9 | NE | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 32 | 218 | 230 | −12 | 89 |
| 10 | SE | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 35 | 235 | 281 | −46 | 84 |
| 11 | SE | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 33 | 225 | 246 | −21 | 84 |
| 12 | SE | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 33 | 33 | 16 | 32 | 213 | 243 | −30 | 82 |
| 13 | NE | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 31 | 231 | 264 | −33 | 80 |
| 14 | AT | New York Islanders | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 27 | 203 | 255 | −52 | 79 |
| 15 | NE | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 31 | 35 | 16 | 26 | 212 | 226 | −14 | 78 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2011–12 game log :

### Playoffs

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs :
* Scorer of game-winning goal in italics

## 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 |
| Tyler Seguin | 81 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 34 | 30 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 81 | 22 | 42 | 64 | 36 | 20 |
| David Krejci | 79 | 23 | 39 | 62 | −5 | 36 |
| Milan Lucic | 81 | 26 | 35 | 61 | 7 | 135 |
| Brad Marchand | 76 | 28 | 27 | 55 | 31 | 87 |
| Zdeno Chara | 79 | 12 | 40 | 52 | 33 | 86 |
| Rich Peverley | 57 | 11 | 31 | 42 | 20 | 22 |
| Chris Kelly | 82 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 33 | 41 |
| Nathan Horton | 46 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 0 | 54 |
| Benoit Pouliot | 74 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 18 | 38 |
| Joe Corvo | 75 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 10 | 13 |
| Andrew Ference | 72 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 9 | 46 |
| Dennis Seidenberg | 80 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 15 | 39 |
| Gregory Campbell | 78 | 8 | 8 | 16 | –3 | 80 |
| Brian Rolston$^†$ | 21 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 8 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 77 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 53 |
| Daniel Paille | 69 | 9 | 6 | 15 | −5 | 15 |
| Jordan Caron | 48 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 14 |
| Shawn Thornton | 81 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −7 | 154 |
| Adam McQuaid | 72 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 99 |
| Greg Zanon$^†$ | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Zach Hamill | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Steven Kampfer$^‡$ | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Carter Camper | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Torey Krug | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Thomas$^{(G)}$ | 58 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 |
| Trent Whitfield | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Mottau$^†$ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Josh Hennessy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Max Sauve | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Bartkowski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Lane MacDermid | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 5 |
| Tuukka Rask$^{(G)}$ | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Marty Turco$^{(G)}$ | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 |
| Team Totals | — | 251 | 412 | 663 | +60 | 1071 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Rich Peverley | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Andrew Ference | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –2 | 0 |
| Brian Rolston | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –2 | 0 |
| Zdeno Chara | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 8 |
| Chris Kelly | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Dennis Seidenberg | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| David Krejci | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Milan Lucic | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Tyler Seguin | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Gregory Campbell | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | –1 | 0 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Benoit Pouliot | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –1 | 6 |
| Brad Marchand | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –1 | 2 |
| Greg Zanon | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Paille | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 2 |
| Shawn Thornton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Corvo | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mike Mottau | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Jordan Caron | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Tim Thomas$^{(G)}$ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Team Totals | — | 15 | 28 | 43 | 0 | 52 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GPI = Games played in; MIN = Minutes played; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SV% = Save percentage
Regular season :
| Player | GPI | MIN | GAA | W | L | OT | SO | SA | GA | SV% |
| Tim Thomas | 59 | 3352 | 2.36 | 35 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 1659 | 132 | .920 |
| Tuukka Rask | 23 | 1289 | 2.05 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 621 | 44 | .929 |
| Marty Turco | 5 | 261 | 3.68 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 16 | .855 |
| Anton Khudobin | 1 | 60 | 1.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | .978 |
| Combined | — | 4778 | 2.31 | 47 | 28 | 4 | 8 | 2335 | 184 | .921 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GPI | MIN | GAA | W | L | SO | SA | GA | SV% |
| Tim Thomas | 7 | 448 | 2.14 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 207 | 16 | .923 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Player' | Award | Notes |
| Tyler Seguin | NHL First Star of the Week | November 14, 2011 |
| Tim Thomas | NHL First Star of the Month | November 2011 |
| Brad Marchand | NHL First Star of the Week | December 26, 2011 |
| Zdeno Chara | NHL Second Star of the Week | April 2, 2012 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| David Krejci | 300th career NHL game | October 8, 2011 |
| Brad Marchand | 100th career NHL game | October 10, 2011 |
| Chris Kelly | 500th career NHL game | November 7, 2011 |
| Adam McQuaid | 100th career NHL game | November 21, 2011 |
| Milan Lucic | 300th career NHL game | November 26, 2011 |
| Rich Peverley | 100th career NHL assist | November 26, 2011 |
| Benoit Pouliot | 200th career NHL game | November 26, 2011 |
| Rich Peverley | 300th career NHL game | December 6, 2011 |
| Tyler Seguin | 100th career NHL game | December 8, 2011 |
| Milan Lucic | 100th career NHL assist | December 10, 2011 |
| Chris Kelly | 200th career NHL point | December 14, 2011 |
| Shawn Thornton | 400th career NHL game | December 17, 2011 |
| Joe Corvo | 600th career NHL game | December 19, 2011 |
| Zdeno Chara | 300th career NHL assist | January 5, 2012 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 500th career NHL game | January 19, 2012 |
| Dennis Seidenberg | 500th career NHL game | January 21, 2012 |
| Tuukka Rask | 100th career NHL game | February 17, 2012 |
| Carter Camper | 1st career NHL game | February 22, 2012 |
| Carter Camper | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | February 25, 2012 |
| Gregory Campbell | 500th career NHL game | February 25, 2012 |
| Lane MacDermid | 1st career NHL game | March 11, 2012 |
| Joe Corvo | 200th career NHL assist | March 6, 2012 |
| Milan Lucic | 200th career NHL point | March 6, 2012 |
| Max Sauve | 1st career NHL game | March 11, 2012 |
| Andrew Ference | 700th career NHL game | March 15, 2012 |
| Zdeno Chara | 1,000th career NHL game | March 24, 2012 |
| Benoit Pouliot | 100th career NHL point | March 25, 2012 |
| Johnny Boychuk | 200th career NHL game | March 31, 2012 |
| Torey Krug | 1st career NHL game | April 3, 2012 |
| Torey Krug | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | April 5, 2012 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 400th career NHL point | April 7, 2012 |

## Transactions

The Bruins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2011–12 season, or the off-season between the previous season and this season.

### Trades

| July 5, 2011 | To Carolina Hurricanes 4th-round pick in 2012 | To Boston Bruins Joe Corvo |
| February 27, 2012 | To New York Islanders Marc Cantin Yannick Riendeau | To Boston Bruins Mike Mottau Brian Rolston |
| February 27, 2012 | To Minnesota Wild Steven Kampfer | To Boston Bruins Greg Zanon |
| March 20, 2012 | To New York IslandersYury Alexandrov | To Boston BruinsFuture considerations |
| May 26, 2012 | To Washington CapitalsZach Hamill | To Boston BustinChris Bourque |
Lost via retirement
Player
Mark Recchi
Player signings
PlayerDateContract terms
Anton KhudobinJuly 1, 20112 years, $1.75 million
Trent WhitfieldJuly 1, 20112 years, $1.15 million
Adam McQuaidJuly 14, 20113 years, $4.7 million
Craig CunninghamJuly 14, 20113 years, $1.845 million entry-level contract
Zach McKelvieJuly 14, 20111 year, $600,000
Stefan ChaputJuly 20, 20111 year, $577,500
Jared KnightJuly 20, 20113 years, $2.17 million entry-level contract
Ryan SpoonerJuly 20, 20113 years, $2.17 million entry-level contract
Andrew BodnarchukSeptember 9, 20111 year, $635,250
Brad MarchandSeptember 14, 20112 years, $5 million
Rich PeverleyOctober 11, 20113 years, $9.75 million contract extension
David KrejciDecember 1, 20113 years, $15.75 million contract extension
Dougie HamiltonDecember 8, 20113 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Johnny BoychukFebruary 14, 20123 years, $10.08 million contract extension
Shawn ThorntonMarch 19, 20122 years, $2.2 million contract extension
Justin FlorekMarch 25, 20122 years, $1.38 million entry-level contract
Zach TrotmanMarch 25, 20122 years, $1.33 million entry-level contract
Tommy CrossApril 10, 20122 years, $1.575 million entry-level contract :

## Draft picks

Boston's picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.
| Round | s# | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 9 | Dougie Hamilton | Defense | Canada | Niagara IceDogs (OHL) |
| 2 | 40 | Alexander Khokhlachev | Left wing | Russia | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
| 3 | 81 | Anthony Camara | Left wing | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 4 | 121 | Brian Ferlin | Right Wing | United States | Indiana Ice (USHL) |
| 5 | 151 | Rob O'Gara | Defense | United States | Milton Academy (USHS–MA) |
| 6 | 181 | Lars Volden | Goaltender | Norway | Espoo Blues (SM-liiga) |

### Notes on draft picks

* ^a Boston acquired this pick as part of a trade on September 18, 2009, that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto.
* ^b Boston acquired this pick as part of a trade on October 18, 2009, that sent Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota in exchange for Craig Weller and Alexander Fallstrom.
* ^c Boston acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 3, 2010, that sent Derek Morris to Phoenix.
* The Bruins' first-round pick, 30th overall, was traded to Toronto as a result of the trade that sent Tomas Kaberle to Boston.
* The Bruins' second-round pick, 61st overall, went to Ottawa as the result of the trade that sent Chris Kelly to Boston.
* The Bruins' third-round pick, 91st overall, went to Florida as the result of the trade that sent Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell to Boston.
* The Bruins' seventh-round pick, 211th overall, went to Chicago as the result of the trade that sent a seventh-round pick in 2010 to Boston.