2011-12 Ottawa Senators season

The 2011–12 Ottawa Senators season was the 20th NHL season, (19th season of play) for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It was a rebuilding season for the Senators after turning over a lot of playing personnel and hiring a new head coach. Although the Senators were not expected to make the playoffs, the team qualified eighth. The team lost in the first round to the first-place New York Rangers but took the Rangers to a seventh-game. Three Senators were nominated for NHL awards: Captain Daniel Alfredsson for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, Erik Karlsson for the James Norris Trophy and Head Coach Paul MacLean for the Jack Adams Award. The Senators hosted the NHL All-Star Game and its festivities. Alfredsson was named captain of one of the teams and five Senators played in the All-Star Game.
==Team business==
On May 19, 2011, the Ottawa Senators were awarded the Ottawa United Way Community Builder of the Year Award for over $60 million in charitable fund-raising in the past ten years, support of youth hockey and the founding of the "Do It For Daron" initiative for mental health in honour of Daron Richardson, the daughter of Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson who took her own life in November 2010. On May 20, 2011, the Senators announced the "Rink of Dreams" project to build a outdoor skating rink at Ottawa City Hall. The rink is to cost $1.25 million, $1 million of which would be funded by the Senators Foundation charity.
In December 2011, the Senators officially announced the replacement of the scoreboard at Scotiabank Place. The old scoreboard dated from 1996, and its replacement had been rumoured in the media since the time of the announcement that the All-Star game would be played in the arena. The new scoreboard, to be supplied by Panasonic, uses four high-definition video screens, plus two LED "rings', one above the scoreboards, and one below. While the old scoreboard had video screens, the new screens are much larger in size and have a larger number of pixels per screen. The scoreboard was first used for the December 27, 2011 game against the Montreal Canadiens. For the game, only the four video screens were in place, and the LED rings were to be operational for the All-Star game.
==2012 NHL All-Star Game==
The Senators was the host of the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in January 2012. The Ottawa Convention Centre hosted a Fan Fair of fan activities from the Thursday until Saturday. The Rideau Canal had to close due to mild weather, but the Senators' new Rink of Dreams was able to be used in its place. Confederation Park was used for ice sculptures and displays.
In the annual All-Star Game voting, Senators fans voted four members of the team to the All-Star roster: Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza. Karlsson led all players in voting with over 939,591 votes cast. Colin Greening was added later by the NHL operations department. Alfredsson was named captain of one team and was able to put the Senators onto his team, except for Greening, who was selected at random for the other All-Star team, coached by former Senator Zdeno Chara. Senators' fans in attendance at the game were thrilled when Alfredsson scored two consecutive goals in the second period, giving him a standing ovation.
==Off-season==
After firing Cory Clouston at the end of their 2010-11 season, the Senators began a search for a new head coach. According to media reports, Bryan Murray interviewed several candidates for the job, including: Kurt Kleinendorst (coach of the Binghamton Senators), Dave Cameron (coach of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors), Craig MacTavish (former coach of the Edmonton Oilers), Paul MacLean, (assistant coach of the Detroit Red Wings) and Kirk Muller (assistant coach of the Montreal Canadiens). On June 14, 2011, the Senators announced the signing of Paul MacLean to a three-year contract as the new head coach. On June 23, 2011, Dave Cameron and Mark Reeds were hired as the assistant coaches. Reeds was the head coach of the Owen Sound Attack, also of the Ontario Hockey League.
The Senators unveiled a new third jersey on October 1, 2011. The new third jersey replaces the 'SENS' design third jersey. The new jersey is mostly black, with horizontal red and 'off-white' stripes in a pattern reminiscent of the original Ottawa Senators jersey of 1926–27. The team will wear the jersey eleven times at home, and once on the road. The eleven corresponds to the number of Stanley Cup championships the original Senators won.
==Pre-season==
On June 22, 2011, the Senators announced that they would be playing seven games during the preseason. They will be play three games at home, three games on the road, and one neutral site game. The team will play divisional rivals Toronto, Montreal, and Boston twice each. Meanwhile, the Senators will also play Winnipeg once in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, as part of the Kraft Hockeyville Celebrations. The game was moved to Mile One Centre by Conception Bay South to maximize the use of arena upgrade dollars for renovations, instead of preparing their arena for the exhibition game.
The Senators held a rookie camp in early September. The rookies participated in a rookie tournament in Oshawa, Ontario with rookies of the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs. The team won all of its games in the tournament. All members of the rookie camp were invited to the main training camp, which started on September 16 at Scotiabank Place and the Bell Sensplex.
==Regular season==
The Senators opened the season on October 7, 2011 at Detroit. The Senators finish the season on April 7, 2012. 81 of 82 games are televised, either on CBC, RDS, Sportsnet, TSN or TVA. The sole game not to be televised is a visit to the Florida Panthers on February 15, 2012. The NHL later organized a video feed available to NHL Centre Ice subscribers in Ottawa for the Panthers game.
The Senators had their home opener on October 11, 2011 against the Minnesota Wild. Since it is the franchise's 20th anniversary season, the Senators had special celebrations. With 14 members of the 1992–93 team in attendance, Laurie Boschman, the 1992–93 team's captain, dropped the puck on the ceremonial face-off. The team went on to win the game 4–3 via shoot-out. It was head coach Paul MacLean's first win as a head coach in the NHL.
Nikita Filatov, a 21-year-old Russian player (and former first-round pick) acquired in a trade at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, had an up and down season between Ottawa and Binghamton before being loaned to HC CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in December. Filatov will play in Moscow for the rest of the season. Filatov will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and Ottawa manager Murray indicated that the club had not given up on Filatov, and would put in at least a qualifying offer at season's end.
The Senators made a trade in December 2011 for Phoenix Coyotes' Kyle Turris in exchange for David Rundblad and a draft pick. After Turris arrived in Ottawa, the team won ten of 13 games, and had a nine-game unbeaten streak over the end of December into January. The run pushed the Senators up into a playoff position. On December 17, the Senators were in tenth position. On January 20, the Senators were as high as fourth in the Eastern Conference.
In February, goaltender Craig Anderson cut the pinky finger on his right hand while preparing food at home. The injury put him out of action as the cut made him unable to hold the goal stick while the injury healed. The Senators made a trade to improve the organizational depth at goaltender, trading for Ben Bishop of the St. Louis Blues. Bishop was playing for the Blues' AHL affiliate and was due to become an unrestricted free agent. Bishop had won the MVP award at the AHL 2012 All-Star Game and was considered one of the best prospects outside the NHL. Before the trade, the Senators had recalled Robin Lehner from Binghamton and Bishop reported to Binghamton. Although Lehner played well and earned his first NHL shutout, Lehner was sent to Binghamton in early March and Bishop recalled to Ottawa. While Ottawa continued to make points, division leader Boston struggled, and the Senators found winning the division to be possible. On March 16, the Senators moved past the Bruins into first place in the Northeast Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. The lead lasted one day, but the Senators qualified for the playoffs, an unexpected development that made head coach MacLean a candidate for coach of the year.
==Playoffs==
The Senators succeeded in making the playoffs after missing them in the 2010–11 season, with a 5–1 win over the New York Islanders on April 1, 2012. The Hockey News had predicted that the Senators would finish last in the Eastern Conference and miss the playoffs.
===Senators vs. Rangers===
The Senators qualified in eighth place, drawing the first-place New York Rangers in the first round. Although the Senators won three out of four games during the regular season between the two teams, the NHL Network predicted the Rangers will win in five or six games.[http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=626625&navid=DL|NHL|home NHL Network Preview Retrieved April 8, 2012 ESPN predicted the Rangers would win in seven games.
In the first game, the Rangers scored once in the first, and twice in the second to take a 3–0 lead into the third period. In the third, the Rangers scored to make it 4–0 before Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Condra scored in the last ten minutes. It was close until the middle of the game. The Rangers were leading 1–0 late in the second period and the Senators were pressing for an equalizer. The Rangers took a time-out and from there, scored three times in six minutes ( from the second into the third period) to build the lead the Senators could not overcome.
In the second game, the Senators added two players known for fighting to the roster: Matt Carkner and Zenon Konopka, changes described by coach MacLean as done in response to the Rangers' Brian Boyle's rough treatment of Erik Karlsson. After only two minutes of play, Carkner was ejected from the game for fighting Boyle, who did not want to fight Carkner, and punching him after Boyle went down to the ice. The Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky jumped into the fight and was ejected for being the third man into a fight. In the second period, the Rangers' Carl Hagelin elbowed Alfredsson and was ejected. In the game itself, the Rangers took a one-goal lead after one period. The Senators equalized during the match penalty to Hagelin to leave the game tied after two. In the third, Boyle scored to put the Rangers ahead, but Nick Foligno tied the score with four minutes to play. In the overtime, the Senators applied pressure from the start, and Chris Neil scored to win the game for the Senators after only one minute of overtime. For their actions during the game, the NHL later gave Hagelin a three-game suspension, and Carkner a one-game suspension.
Alfredsson did not return for the third game, still suffering from a concussion from the Hagelin hit. The first star of the game was the Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped all 39 Senators shots on net for a shutout. The game was scoreless until the third period when the Rangers' Boyle scored on a backhand after the puck bounced off the back boards directly to him nearly in front of the Senators' goalie Craig Anderson, who stopped 21 of 22. It was the only goal of the match. Lundqvist preserved the win with a save in the final minute on Kyle Turris who was alone in front of the Rangers' goal with the Senators pressing and their goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
In game four, it was the Ottawa goalie Anderson's turn to save a game. After giving up two power play goals by the Rangers in the first few minutes, he stopped the Rangers the rest of the way. In the second period, the Senators tied the game on goals by Milan Michalek and Sergei Gonchar. No goals were scored leading to the second overtime of the series. In the overtime, the Senators' Kyle Turris scored his first-ever overtime goal to tie the series after four games, ensuring a game six in Ottawa. Ottawa captain Alfredsson missed another game. It was the first victory at home by the Senators since the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.
Game five in New York saw Anderson continue to hold off the Rangers, stopping all of their shots for a 2–0 shutout victory. Junior call up Mark Stone made an impression, setting up the winning goal of the game by Spezza in the first period. Spezza added an empty net goal to seal the victory. It was Stone's NHL debut.
Game six was played in Ottawa with the Senators having a chance to eliminate the Rangers. The Senators scored the first goal of the game in the first period on a power play. With Anderson continuing to hold off the Rangers, it appeared the Senators might have scored enough. It all changed in the second period with three goals by the Rangers, including a pair on the power play, to put the Rangers ahead 3–1. Anderson's shutout streak of the Rangers ended at 145 minutes, 27 seconds. In the third, Senators' coach Paul MacLean benched stars Spezza and Alfredsson in a ploy to turn their games around, but it was ineffective. Alfredsson himself showed a rare temper outburst on the bench, due to his frustration. The Senators scored a goal on a disputed play in the last minute, but it was too little, too late. The game was the NHL debut for Senators prospect Jakob Silfverberg, who had just finished playing in the Swedish Elitserien playoffs.
The series shifted to New York for the deciding seventh game. Like game six, the deciding goals were scored in the second period. The Rangers scored a pair of goals to go ahead 2–0, while Alfredsson replied on the power play for the Senators. The third period was scoreless. Alfredsson was considered to be the best player for the Senators in the game, and there was considerable speculation after the game that it might be the last game of his NHL career.
==Standings==
==Schedule and results==
===Pre-season===
2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)	2011 Preseason game log: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1 ; Road: 2–2–0)
Game 	Date 	Time (ET) 	Opponent 	Score 	Decision 	Location 	Attendance 	Recap
1 	September 19 	7:00pm 	Toronto 	2–4 	Lehner 	Air Canada Centre 	18,556 	
2 	September 21 	7:30pm 	Boston 	2 – 1 (OT) 	Auld 	Scotiabank Place 	16,492 	
3 	September 23 	7:30pm 	Montreal 	3 – 4 (SO) 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	17,583 	
4 	September 24 	7:00pm 	Montreal 	3–2 	Lehner 	Bell Centre 	21,273 	
5 	September 26 	4:00pm 	Winnipeg 	1–3 	Auld 	Mile One Centre (St. John's, NFLD) 	6,275 	
6 	September 27 	7:30pm 	Toronto 	3–5 	Lehner 	Scotiabank Place 	18,831 	
7 	September 29 	7:00pm 	Boston 	2–1 	Anderson 	TD Garden 	16,763 	
===Regular season===
2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	2011 Regular season game log: 41–28–10 (Home: 20–15–4 ; Road: 21–13–6)	 	
October (Games: 12; Home: 7; Road: 5) (Record: 7–5–0; Home: 5–2–0; Road: 2–3–0)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Time (ET) 	Opponent 	Score 	Decision 	Location 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts	Recap
1 	October 7 	7:00pm 	Detroit 	3–5 	Anderson 	Joe Louis Arena 	20,066 	0–1–0 	0 	
2 	October 8 	7:00pm 	Toronto 	5–6 	Auld 	Air Canada Centre 	19,324 	0–2–0 	0 	
3 	October 11 	7:30pm 	Minnesota 	4 – 3 (SO) 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	19,455 	1–2–0 	2 	
4 	October 13 	7:30pm 	Colorado 	1–7 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	19,239 	1–3–0 	2 	
5 	October 15 	7:00pm 	Washington 	1–2 	Auld 	Verizon Center 	18,506 	1–4–0 	2 	
6 	October 18 	7:30pm 	Philadelphia 	2–7 	Auld 	Scotiabank Place 	18,059 	1–5–0 	2 	
7 	October 20 	7:30pm 	Winnipeg 	4–1 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	17,919 	2–5–0 	4 	
8 	October 22 	7:00pm 	Columbus 	4–3 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	18,867 	3–5–0 	6 	
9 	October 25 	7:00pm 	Carolina 	3 – 2 (SO) 	Anderson 	RBC Center 	12,083 	4–5–0 	8 	
10 	October 27 	7:30pm 	Florida 	4–3 	Anderson 	Scotiabank Place 	18,165 	5–5–0 	10 	
11 	October 29 	3:00pm 	NY Rangers 	5 – 4 (SO) 	Anderson 	Madison Square Garden 	18,200 	6–5–0 	12 	
12 	October 30 	7:30pm 	Toronto 	3–2 	Lehner 	Scotiabank Place 	19,522 	7–5–0 	14 	
===Playoffs===
Senators vs. Rangers 
Game	Date 	Time 	Score 	Decision	Location 	Attendance	Record	Recap
1 	April 12	7 pm 	2–4 	Anderson	Madison Square Garden	18,200 	0–1 	
2 	April 14	7 pm 	3–2 (OT)	Anderson	Madison Square Garden	18,200 	1–1 	
3 	April 16	7:30 pm	0–1 	Anderson	Scotiabank Place 	20,182 	1–2 	
4 	April 18	7:30 pm	3–2 (OT)	Anderson	Scotiabank Place 	20,340 	2–2 	
5 	April 21	7 pm 	2–0 	Anderson	Madison Square Garden	18,200 	3–2 	
6 	April 23	7 pm 	2–3 	Anderson	Scotiabank Place 	20,500 	3–3 	
7 	April 26	7 pm 	1–2 	Anderson	Madison Square Garden	18,200 	3–4 	
Notes:
:S.Sell-out (over 19,153 at Scotiabank Place).
==Player statistics==
Source: Ottawa Senators.
Source: NHL.
===Scoring===
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	80	34	50	84	11 	36
 	81	19	59	78	16 	42
 	77	35	25	60	4 	32
 	75	27	32	59	16 	18
 	82	15	32	47	2 	124
 	82	17	20	37	−4 	46
 	74	5 	32	37	−4 	55
 	73	6 	26	32	26 	26
† 	49	12	17	29	12 	27
 	72	13	15	28	−10	178
 	81	14	12	26	4 	98
 	81	8 	17	25	11 	30
 	80	5 	14	19	12 	16
 	82	5 	12	17	−4 	56
 	56	6 	10	16	8 	12
 	65	5 	6 	11	−2 	12
† 	35	1 	7 	8 	−2 	27
 	32	2 	6 	8 	2 	22
 	28	3 	3 	6 	6 	4
 	55	3 	2 	5 	−4 	193
 	22	3 	2 	5 	−9 	8
 	10	2 	2 	4 	3 	2
‡ 	24	1 	3 	4 	−11	6
 	29	1 	2 	3 	0 	33
† 	14	1 	2 	3 	0 	2
 	15	0 	2 	2 	0 	2
 	9 	0 	1 	1 	1 	4
 	9 	0 	1 	1 	−3 	2
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	2
As of April 8, 2012.
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
 	7 	3	2	5 	2 	8
 	7 	1	3	4 	1 	6
 	7 	1	3	4 	−1 	8
 	7 	2	1	3 	2 	22
 	7 	1	2	3 	−1 	2
 	4 	2	0	2 	−3 	0
 	7 	0	2	2 	1 	10
 	6 	0	2	2 	2 	2
 	7 	1	1	2 	3 	4
 	7 	0	1	1 	0 	4
 	4 	0	1	1 	1 	21
 	7 	0	1	1 	1 	0
 	7 	1	0	1 	0 	0
 	7 	0	1	1 	0 	0
 	7 	0	1	1 	-2 	10
 	7 	1	0	1 	0 	4
 	7 	0	1	1 	−3 	4
 	1 	0	1	1 	1 	0
 	1 	0	0	0 	−1 	0
 	4 	0	0	0 	-2 	0
 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0
 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	2
 	3 	0	0	0 	0 	0
===Goaltending===
Source: NHL.
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	63	3492	33	22	6	165	2.84	1917	.914	3	0	4	4	4
 	14	645 	2 	4 	2	36 	3.35	310 	.884	0	0	0	0	0
† 	10	532 	3 	3 	2	22 	2.48	243 	.909	0	0	0	0	2
 	5 	299 	3 	2 	0	10 	2.01	154 	.935	1	0	0	0	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	Min	W	L	GA	GAA 	SA 	Sv% 	SO	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	7 	419	3	4	14	2.00	208	.933	1 	0	0	0 	0
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Senators. Stats reflect time with Senators only.
‡Traded mid-season.
==Awards/Milestones==
===Awards===
Regular Season 	Regular Season 	Regular Season 	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season
Player 	Award 	Awarded 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jason Spezza 	NHL Second Star of the Week 	October 24, 2011 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jason Spezza 	NHL First Star of the Week 	December 19, 2011	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Craig Anderson 	NHL Third Star of the Week 	January 9, 2012 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Craig Anderson 	NHL First Star of the Week 	January 16, 2012 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Daniel Alfredsson	NHL Third Star of the Week 	January 30, 2012 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jason Spezza 	NHL Third Star of the Week 	February 20, 2012	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Erik Karlsson 	NHL First Star of the Week 	February 27, 2012	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Erik Karlsson 	NHL Second Star of the Month	February 2012 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
===Records===
The Senators set a new franchise record for the fastest two goals scored on October 8, 2011 in a 6–5 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The first goal was scored by Jason Spezza at 15:36 of the third period, while the second goal was scored eight seconds later by Daniel Alfredsson. The previous record was nine seconds, set the previous season.
On February 22, 2012, Erik Karlsson set a new franchise record for assists by a defenceman in a single season by tallying two assists, bringing his total to 47, in a 5–2 victory over the Washington Capitals. The previous record was held by Norm MacIver, who tallied 46 assists during the modern franchise's inaugural season in 1992–1993.
On February 26, 2012, Erik Karlsson set a new franchise record for points by a defenceman in a single season by tallying two assists, bringing his points total to 65, in a 5–2 victory over the New York Islanders. The previous record was held by Norm MacIver, who tallied 63 points during the modern franchise's inaugural season in 1992–1993.
===Milestones===
{| class="wikitable"	 	
Regular season 	Regular season 	
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"	 	
Player 	Achievement 	Date
Mika Zibanejad 	1st NHL game1st NHL assist1st NHL point	October 7, 2011
Stephane Da Costa	1st NHL goal1st NHL point 	October 8, 2011
David Rundblad 	1st NHL game 	October 11, 2011
David Rundblad 	1st NHL assist1st NHL point 	October 15, 2011
Craig Anderson 	100th career win 	October 20, 2011
Zenon Konopka 	200th NHL game 	October 22, 2011
Kaspars Daugavins	1st NHL goal1st NHL point1st NHL GWG 	October 30, 2011
Jared Cowen 	1st NHL goal1st NHL point 	November 1, 2011
Stephane Da Costa	1st NHL assist 	November 1, 2011
Kaspars Daugavins	1st NHL assist 	November 12, 2011
Jason Spezza 	200th NHL goal 	November 27, 2011
David Rundblad 	1st NHL goal 	November 27, 2011
Milan Michalek 	300th NHL point 	November 29, 2011
Jared Cowen 	1st NHL assist 	December 1, 2011
Zack Smith 	100th NHL game 	December 8, 2011
Jared Cowen 	1st NHL GWG 	December 13, 2011
Nick Foligno 	300th NHL game 	December 13, 2011
Erik Karlsson 	100th NHL point 	December 16, 2011
Chris Neil 	100th NHL assist 	December 20, 2011
Mike Hoffman 	1st NHL game 	December 23, 2011
Filip Kuba 	300th NHL point 	December 23, 2011
Daniel Alfredsson	400th NHL goal 	December 30, 2011
Mark Borowiecki 	1st NHL game 	January 19, 2012
Sergei Gonchar 	1,100th NHL game 	January 19, 2012
Andre Petersson 	1st NHL game 	January 21, 2012
Chris Neil 	700th NHL game 	January 21, 2012
Daniel Alfredsson	1,100th NHL game 	January 21, 2012
Chris Phillips 	250th NHL point 	January 24, 2012
Milan Michalek 	500th NHL game 	February 7, 2012
Chris Phillips 	1,000th NHL game 	February 9, 2012
Jim O'Brien 	1st NHL goal 1st NHL point 	February 15, 2012
Erik Karlsson 	100th NHL assist 	February 22, 2012
Jason Spezza 	600th NHL point 	February 25, 2012
Robin Lehner 	1st NHL shutout 	February 28, 2012
Erik Karlsson 	200th NHL game 	March 2, 2012
Jim O'Brien 	1st NHL assist 	March 4, 2012
Rob Klinkhammer 	1st NHL assist1st NHL point 	March 8, 2012
Filip Kuba 	250th NHL assist 	March 14, 2012
Jason Spezza 	600th NHL game 	March 23, 2012
Erik Condra 	100th NHL game 	March 23, 2012
Colin Greening 	100th NHL game 	March 24, 2012
Zenon Konopka 	250th NHL game 	March 24, 2012
==Final roster==
Updated April 23, 2012.
|}
==Transactions==
===Trades===
Date 	Details 	Details
June 24, 2011 	To Detroit Red Wings2nd-round pick (#35 overall) in 2011 (Tomas Jurco)2nd-round pick (#48 overall) in 2011 (Xavier Ouellet)	To Ottawa Senators1st-round pick (#24 overall) in 2011 (Matthew Puempel)
June 25, 2011 	To Columbus Blue Jackets3rd-round pick (#66 overall) in 2011 (Thomas Tynan) 	To Ottawa SenatorsNikita Filatov
December 2, 2011 	To Chicago BlackhawksConditional 7th-round pick in 2013 	To Ottawa SenatorsRob Klinkhammer
December 17, 2011	To Phoenix CoyotesDavid Rundblad2nd-round pick in 2012 	To Ottawa SenatorsKyle Turris
February 26, 2012	To St. Louis Blues2nd-round pick in 2013 	To Ottawa SenatorsBen Bishop
February 27, 2012	To Tampa Bay LightningBrian Lee 	To Ottawa SenatorsMatt Gilroy
=== Free agents signed ===
Player 	Former team 	Date 	Contract terms
Alex Auld 	Montreal Canadiens 	July 1, 2011 	One-year, $1 million
Zenon Konopka 	New York Islanders 	July 5, 2011 	One-year, $700,000
Mark Parrish 	Buffalo Sabres 	July 8, 2011 	One-year, $650,000 two-way
Mike McKenna 	New Jersey Devils 	July 8, 2011 	One-year, $550,000 two-way
Lee Sweatt 	Vancouver Canucks 	July 11, 2011 	Two-year, $1.3 million two-way
Tim Conboy 	Portland Pirates 	July 11, 2011 	One-year, $600,000 two-way
Cole Schneider	University of Connecticut	March 14, 2012	Two-year, $1.85 million entry-level contract
=== Free agents lost ===
Player 	New team 	Contract terms
Ryan Potulny 	Washington Capitals 	Two-year, $1.05 million
Curtis McElhinney	Phoenix Coyotes 	One-year, $625,000
Ryan Keller 	Edmonton Oilers 	One-year, $625,000 two-way
Ryan Shannon 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	One-year, $625,000
Roman Wick 	Kloten Flyers 	Three-year, undisclosed
Cody Bass 	Columbus Blue Jackets	One-year, $600,000 two-way
Derek Smith 	Calgary Flames 	One-year, $700,000 two-way
Andre Benoit 	HC Spartak Moscow 	One-year
===Claimed via waivers===
Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers
===Lost via waivers===
Player	New team	Date claimed off waivers
=== Player signings ===
Player 	Date 	Contract terms
Colin Greening 	May 19, 2011 	Three-year, $2.45 million
Zack Smith 	May 19, 2011 	Two-year, $1.4 million
Louie Caporusso 	May 30, 2011 	Two-year, $1.13 million entry-level
Jakob Silfverberg 	May 30, 2011 	Three-year, $2.59 million entry-level
Francis Lessard 	July 1, 2011 	One-year, $550,000 two-way
Erik Condra 	July 6, 2011 	Two-year, $1.25 million
Mika Zibanejad 	July 13, 2011 	Three-year, $2.775 million entry-level
Bobby Butler 	July 14, 2011 	Two-year, $2.15 million
Kaspars Daugavins 	August 3, 2011 	One-year, $600,000 two-way
Mark Stone 	September 19, 2011	Three-year, $1.89 million entry-level contract
Stefan Noesen 	December 29, 2011 	Three-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Matthew Puempel 	December 29, 2011 	Three-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Ben Bishop 	February 26, 2012 	One-year, $650,000 one-way contract extension
Chris Wideman 	March 28, 2012 	Two-year, $1.18 million entry-level contract
Ben Blood 	April 6, 2012 	Two-year, $1.65 million entry-level contract
Peter Regin 	May 4, 2012 	One-year, $800,000 one-way contract
Fredrik Claesson 	May 10, 2012 	Three-year, $1.87 million entry-level contract
Pat Cannone 	May 11, 2012 	Two-year, $1.25 million two-way contract
Jakub Culek 	May 25, 2012 	Three-year, $1.77 million entry-level contract
Darren Kramer 	May 25, 2012 	Three-year, $1.8 million entry-level contract
Jean-Gabriel Pageau	June 6, 2012 	Three-year, $1.84 million entry-level contract
== Draft picks ==
The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was held in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Senators picked sixth overall with their own draft pick, and 21st overall with the first-round pick of the Nashville Predators, acquired in exchange for a 2011 trade of Mike Fisher. After picking 21st, the Senators traded their 35th and 48th overall picks (the later pick acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Chris Campoli) to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for the 24th overall pick. This marked the first time in franchise history that the Senators picked three times in the first round.
Round	Overall pick 	Player 	Position 	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1 	6 	Mika Zibanejad 	Centre 	 	Djurgardens IF Hockey (SEL)
1 	21 (from Nashville) 	Stefan Noesen 	Right Wing	 	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
1 	24 (from Detroit) 	Matthew Puempel 	Left Wing 	 	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
2 	61 (from Boston) 	Shane Prince 	Centre 	 	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
4 	96 	Jean-Gabriel Pageau	Centre 	 	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
5 	126 	Fredrik Claesson 	Defence 	 	Djurgardens IF (SEL)
6 	156 	Darren Kramer 	Centre 	 	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
6 	171 (from Phoenix) 	Max McCormick 	Left Wing 	 	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
7 	186 	Jordan Fransoo 	Defence 	 	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
7 	204 (from Pittsburgh)	Ryan Dzingel 	Centre 	 	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
== See also ==
* 2011–12 NHL season
==References==
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Ottawa Senators season, 2011–12