2011-12 Washington Capitals season

The 2011–12 Washington Capitals season was the franchise’s 38th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Off-season
During the off-season The Capitals made several player changes. One of the players that was not retained by the team, Matt Bradley, started a controversy with his comments from a radio interview in Ottawa. In the interview Bradley said his former team was "a little bit too nonchalant, and guys weren’t disciplined the way they should have been." which were the two biggest reasons why the team was not able to advance past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He later stated that head coach Bruce Boudreau did not give the most ice time to players who were playing well, but went with his star players. He further noted that Boudreau was a "great coach" who had been put in a tough position. When asked to point out examples Bradley stated that Alexander Semin "could easily be the best player in the league" but he "just doesn’t care" further noting "When you've got a guy like that, you need him to be your best player, or one of your best players, and when he doesn't show up, you almost get the sense that he wants to be back in Russia." Semin's agent came to his client's defense stating he "always cares". While teammate Mike Knuble noted that the language barrier affects the way that Semin is perceive and the comments were something Bradley regretted. When asked about the comments former Capitals' forward David Steckel stated that "It's not like he went out and told lies." Bradley later apologized for his comments in an interview with the Sun Sentinel.

Including Bradley the Capitals lost six players who played for them in the playoffs as well as back-up goaltender Semyon Varlamov. To replace some the departed players Washington traded its 2011 first round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for veteran winger Troy Brouwer. A member of the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup championship team in 2010. They signed Joel Ward as a free agent, adding grit and the hopes that he could duplicate his 2011 playoff success. Ward scored 7 goals and 13 points in 12 playoff games with the Nashville Predators, after scoring 10 goals and 29 points in 80 regular season games. In net they added veteran Tomas Vokoun, who was considered to be one of the top goaltenders in the 2011 free agent class. He signed a one-year $1.5 million contract, well below his believed market value, to have a chance at winning a Stanley Cup. After making these and other off-season moves the Capitals were over the NHL salary cap. The expectation was that defenseman Tom Poti would not be able to play due to injury. Washington would place him on long-term injured reserve and Poti's $2.9 million salary would not count against the cap total. Unexpectedly Poti told the Capitals that he would be ready to play by training camp. However Poti failed his medical exam prior to training camp and was placed on long-term injured reserve.

October – November
In the season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes Boudreau made a "surprise" decision to start goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Boudreau stated that the reason behind his decision was a reward for Neuvirth hard work in training camp. Prior to the Capitals' second game Neuvirth sustained a bruised foot and was unable to play. In his Capitals debut Vokoun struggled allowing 5 goals on 28 shots, but Washington won the game 6–5 in a shootout. In the post game interview Vokoun blamed himself for the high number of goals and thanked his teammates for getting him the win in a game he should have lost. Vokoun rebounded in his second game making 39 saves in a 3–2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He continued his strong play and was named the NHL's third star of the week ending October 23 and helped the Caps to a franchise record seven game win streak to start a season.

After losing two straight games Washington was down 4–3 to the Anaheim Ducks in the final minutes of the game. With the goaltender pulled Boudreau decided to play the third line of Ward, Brooks Laich, and Jason Chimera with Nicklas Backstrom as the extra attacker. Boudreau stated that he was "playing a hunch" by leaving star forward Alex Ovechkin on the bench. The move paid off as Backstrom scored to force overtime. He also scored the game winner in overtime assisted by Ovechkin. When asked about being left on the bench in a post game interview Ovechkin stated that Laich's line deserved to be on the ice. Though video showed Ovechkin visibly upset about being left on the bench. The following day Ovechkin stated that he was upset about not being on the ice in the final minutes but that he understood Boudreau's decision.

Following the benching incident the Capitals went 2–5–0 leading up to their November 21 game against the Phoenix Coyotes. For the game Boudreau made headlines again for sitting one of his star players. This time making Semin a healthy scratch. Semin led the team in penalty minutes (PIMs) as well as being tied for second in the NHL with 14 minor penalties. Boudreau previously bench Semin for the second half of a game versus the New Jersey Devils after the winger had taken two minors and was not focused. Washington defeated Phoenix the game 4–3. The Hockey News' Ken Campbell applauded the benching of Ovechkin stating that in the past Boudreau had shown a willingness to continually put is star plays out on the ice despite how they were playing and accept the consequences. Campbell noted the move was Boudreau "addressing his most glaring problem as a coach". NBC's Mike Halford echoed Campbell's statement when discussing the benching of Semin, commenting that it was a "bold move" and the latest in a series of messages sent by Boudreau. Though he further questioned if the new stance would eventually cost him his job.

The moves did not produce the desired results as Capitals lost six of eight games, with Ovechkin scoring only one goal during the same stretch. As a result Washington fired Boudreau on November 28 and replaced him with former Capitals captain, Dale Hunter. Hunter was the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) London Knights when he was hired. During his time with London he set an OHL record for fastest coach to 300 and 400 career wins. The Capitals lost Hunter's coaching debut 2–1 to the St. Louis Blues. The following day Boudreau spoke to the media about being fired. He stated that general manager George McPhee made the "right decision at the time" and that despite speculation he did not feel that Ovechkin was a problem stating that he "worked as hard and tried as hard as he could".

December – January
The Capitals did not get Hunter his first NHL win until his third game. The 3–2 win over the Ottawa Senators broke a four game losing streak. In the rematch four days later Ovechkin appeared to spear Senators forward Chris Neil. Following a Neil hit on Ovechkin the pair skated up the ice when Neil fell to the ice following the spear. Neil was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving. The spearing penalty, if called, would have resulted in a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct. Later in the game Ovechkin scored the eventual game winning goal. It was his first goal in six games. When asked about the incident after the game Neil described it as a "pitchfork in the gut" while Ovechkin stated he was "not the type of guy who spears players." The following day a league spokesman stated that Ovechkin would not be suspended or fined for the spear.

The December 28th game vs. the New York Rangers marked the return of fourth line forward Jay Beagle. Beagle missed 31 games with a concussion suffered in a fight against the Penguins' Arron Asham. The fight itself had generated a minor controversy as Asham, an experienced fighter, made celebratory gestures after knocking out Beagle, who was in his first career NHL fight. Several Capitals expressed their displeasure with Asham after the game, while Asham himself called his actions "classless". Beagle's work ethic in his return was called contagious by teammate Matt Hendricks and helped the Capitals to a 4–1 victory. In late December Ovechkin went on a seven game point streak that featured the two point games in the final four games of the streak. In conjunction with the point streak he scored eight goals in nine games. Washington went 5–1–1 during the streak which was snapped in a 5–2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on January 7. In the game prior to the streak being snapped Capitals defenseman Mike Green returned from a groin injury that kept him out for 23 games. Washington defeated the Calgary Flames 3–1 in the contest, which moved their record to 9–0–0 with Green in the line-up. The news coming out of the game was not all good. During the game Capitals leading scorer Backstrom was elbowed in the head by the Flames' Rene Bourque. Backstrom underwent concussion testing which was inconclusive, he suffered from what was described as "concussion-like symptoms" and was eventually placed on injured reserve. Bourque was suspended five games for delivering the elbow. Compounding the Capitals injury problem was the loss of Green, in just his second game back he re-injured his groin and was placed on long term injured reserve. Towards the end of January the Capitals received a suspension of their own. During a gave versus the Penguins Ovechkin delivered a hit to Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek. On the hit Ovechkin launched himself into Michalek's shoulder, the force of the hit caused Ovechkin to make contact with Michalek's head. The following day it was announced that Ovechkin was suspended for three games for the reckless hit despite not receiving a penalty on the play during the game. Vice president of player safety, Brendan Shanahan, stated the length of the suspension took into account that Ovechkin was a repeat offender, having been suspended twice before and fined twice as well, it also took into consideration that Michalek was not injured on the play. Interestingly, Michalek, who also had a hearing for an illegal hit in the same game – in which he propelled his elbow into the side of Capitals player Matt Hendricks' head – avoided any fine or punishment from Shanahan. Without Ovechkin, Backstrom, or Green, Washington defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the final game before the All-Star break to move into first place in the division.

Washington had two players named to the NHL All-Star Game. Despite having a down season by his standards Ovechkin was named to the All-Star Game. However, due to his suspension Ovechkin announced that he did not want to be a distraction at the game and that he was not comfortable going, and declined to attend the All-Star weekend. Dennis Wideman was the Capitals other All-Star, he recorded 34 points leading into the break while averaging over 24 minutes of ice time per game.

Playoffs
The Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins in the opening round, four games to three. For the first time in NHL history, each of the seven games was decided by one goal. The Capitals advanced to the second round, the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the New York Rangers. The Capitals lost the series four games to three. One day after the loss, the Capitals head coach, Dale Hunter stepped down on May 14.

Playoffs
Key: Win  Loss  Clinch Playoff Series  Eliminated from playoffs

Skaters
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Capitals. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.

‡Traded mid-season

Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Final roster
Updated June 4, 2012.


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

Draft picks
Washington's selections at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.