2011–12 Boston Bruins season

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

Main article: 2012 Stanley Cup 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

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

REG/OT/SO WIN = #CCFFCC REGULATION LOSS = #FFBBBB OT/SO LOSS = #FFFFCC

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Legend: |}

Playoffs

WIN = #CCFFCC LOSS = #FFBBBB

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• 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

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• †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Bruins. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
• ‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
• (G)Denotes goaltender.
• Team PIM totals include bench infractions.

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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

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Awards and records

Awards

Records

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Milestones

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

Free agents signed

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Player signings

Draft picks

Boston's picks at the 2011 NHL entry draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.

;Notes on draft picks:

• Boston acquired this pick as part of a trade on September 18, 2009, that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto.
• 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.
• 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.

References

References

1. National Hockey League. (2013). "The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014". Diamond Sports Data, Inc..
2. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=597901 Deals next for sinking B's?]
3. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=597885 Bruins experiencing historic 'Stanley Cup hangover']
4. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604268 Bruins and Wild had memorable Novembers]
5. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604142 Tim Thomas, Jonathan Toews and Joffrey Lupul are NHL's three stars for November]
6. "2011-12 NHL Summary".
7. "2011–2012 Regular Season".
8. "Team Stats 2011–2012 Regular Season".
9. "Team Stats 2011–2012 Bench Penalties".
10. "2011-2012 Playoffs".
11. "Game Stats".
12. "2011-2012 - Playoffs - Skater - Penalties - Average PIM Per Game".
13. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111115153756/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=601281 Seguin, Howard, Toews are NHL's Three Stars]
14. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604176 Thomas, Toews, Lupul are November's Three Stars]
15. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=608047 Marchand, Gaborik, Giguere earn Three Stars]
16. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403185930/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=625389 Simmonds, Chara, Smith are Three Stars of the Week]
17. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568551 Bruins Acquire Corvo]
18. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=619396 Bruins Acquire Trio of Veteran Players]
19. [http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=623236 Islanders acquire Alexandrov from Bruins]
20. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=632883 Bruins Acquire Chris Bourque from WSH for Zach Hamill]
21. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568031 B's Sign Pouliot, Khudobin, Whitfield]
22. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568618 B's Sign Tardiff and Hennessy]
23. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=620697 Bruins Sign Goaltender Marty Turco]
24. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=622417 B's Sign Morrison to Entry-level Contract]
25. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=623987 Bruins Sign Torey Krug to an Entry-level Contract]
26. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=633113 Bruins Sign Goaltender Niklas Svedberg to Entry-level Contract]
27. [http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568067 Dallas Stars Agree To Terms With Six Players On First Day Of Free Agency]
28. [http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568384 Penguins Sign Defenseman Boris Valabik]
29. [http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=568594 Hurricanes Agree to Terms with Tomas Kaberle]
30. (July 7, 2011). "EHC Wolfsburg bound winger David Laliberté". [[EHC Wolfsburg]].
31. Pepin, Matt. "Report: Mark Recchi announces retirement". Boston Globe.
32. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569331 Bruins Sign McQuaid to Extension]
33. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569790 B's Sign Chaput, Knight & Spooner]
34. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=588014 Bodnarchuk Signs Extension]
35. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=588435 Bruins Sign Brad Marchand]
36. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=595416 B's Sign Peverley to 3-year Extension]
37. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=604157 B's Sign Krejci to a Three-Year Contract Extension]
38. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=605434 B's Sign Dougie Hamilton to Entry-Level Contract]
39. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=616944 B's Sign Boychuk to Extension]
40. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=623045 B's Sign Thornton to 2-Year Extension]
41. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=623979 Florek & Trotman Signed to Entry-level Contracts]
42. [http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=627094 B's Sign Cross to an Entry-level Contract]
43. "Kessel traded to Maple Leafs".
44. [http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=295338 Minnesota acquires Kobasew from Bruins]
45. (March 3, 2010). "Coyotes Acquire Morris From Boston". [[Phoenix Coyotes]].
46. "Bruins Acquire Kaberle from Toronto". [[Boston Bruins]].
47. "Bruins acquire Chris Kelly from Sens". National Hockey League.
48. "Cats deal Horton, Campbell to B's for Wideman, picks". [[National Hockey League]].
49. "Trades announced at the NHL Entry Draft on Day 2". [[National Hockey League]].