2011-12 Ottawa Senators season

2011–12 Ottawa Senators
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	8th Eastern
2011–12 record	41–31–10
Home record	20–17–4
Road record	21–14–6
Goals for	249
Goals against	240
Team information
General manager	Bryan Murray
Coach	Paul MacLean
Captain	Daniel Alfredsson
Alternate captains	Chris Phillips Jason Spezza
Arena	Scotiabank Place
Average attendance	19,356 (41 games)
Team leaders
Goals	Milan Michalek (35)
Assists	Erik Karlsson (59)
Points	Jason Spezza (84)
Penalty minutes	Zenon Konopka (193)
Plus/minus	Filip Kuba (+26)
Wins	Craig Anderson (33)
Goals against average	Robin Lehner (2.01)

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. 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

Northeast Division GP W L OTL ROW GF GA Pts 1 y – Boston Bruins 82 49 29 4 40 269 202 102 2 Ottawa Senators 82 41 31 10 35 249 240 92 3 Buffalo Sabres 82 39 32 11 32 218 230 89 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 35 37 10 31 231 264 80 5 Montreal Canadiens 82 31 35 16 26 212 226 78

Eastern Conference R Div GP W L OTL ROW GF GA Pts 1 z – New York Rangers * AT 82 51 24 7 47 226 187 109 2 y – Boston Bruins * NE 82 49 29 4 40 269 202 102 3 y – Florida Panthers * SE 82 38 26 18 32 203 227 94 4 Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 51 25 6 42 282 221 108 5 Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 47 26 9 43 264 232 103 6 New Jersey Devils AT 82 48 28 6 36 228 209 102 7 Washington Capitals SE 82 42 32 8 38 222 230 92 8 Ottawa Senators NE 82 41 31 10 35 249 240 92 8.5 9 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 39 32 11 32 218 230 89 10 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 38 36 8 35 235 281 84 11 Winnipeg Jets SE 82 37 35 10 33 225 246 84 12 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 33 33 16 32 213 243 82 13 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 35 37 10 31 231 264 80 14 New York Islanders AT 82 34 37 11 27 203 255 79 15 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 31 35 16 26 212 226 78

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast; ROW: Total of games won in regulation or overtime, not shootout.

* – Division leader, y – Clinched division, z Clinched conference (and division)

Schedule and results

Pre-season

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)
October (Games: 12; Home: 7; Road: 5) (Record: 7–5–0; Home: 5–2–0; Road: 2–3–0) 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 19,455S 1–2–0 2 4 October 13 7:30pm Colorado 1–7 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,239S 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 19,522S 7–5–0 14
November (Games: 12; Home: 4; Road: 8) (Record: 5–5–2; Home: 1–2–1; Road: 4–3–1) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 13 November 1 7:00pm Boston 3–5 Anderson TD Garden 17,565 7–6–0 14 14 November 4 7:30pm Montreal 1–2 Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,329S 7–7–0 14 15 November 5 7:00pm Buffalo 2 – 3 (SO) Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,805 7–7–1 15 16 November 9 7:30pm NY Rangers 2–3 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,543S 7–8–1 15 17 November 11 7:30pm Buffalo 1–5 Anderson First Niagara Center 18,690 7–9–1 15 18 November 12 7:00pm Toronto 5–2 Anderson Air Canada Centre 19,553 8–9–1 17 19 November 15 9:00pm Calgary 3–1 Anderson Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289 9–9–1 19 20 November 17 9:30pm Edmonton 5–2 Anderson Rexall Place 16,839 10–9–1 21 21 November 20 9:00pm Vancouver 1 – 2 (OT) Auld Rogers Arena 18,890 10–9–2 22 22 November 25 7:00pm Pittsburgh 3–6 Anderson Consol Energy Center 18,610 10–10–2 22 23 November 27 5:00pm Carolina 4–3 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,656S 11–10–2 24 24 November 29 8:30pm Winnipeg 6–4 Anderson MTS Centre 15,004 12–10–2 26
December (Games: 15; Home: 9; Road: 6) (Record: 7–5–3; Home: 5–4–0; Road: 2–1–3) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 1 8:30pm Dallas 2–3 Anderson American Airlines Center 10,490 12–11–2 26 26 December 3 7:00pm Washington 2 – 3 (OT) Anderson Verizon Center 18,506 12–11–3 27 27 December 5 7:30pm Tampa Bay 4–2 Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,742 13–11–3 29 28 December 7 7:00pm Washington 3–5 Anderson Scotiabank Place 17,771 13–12–3 29 29 December 8 7:00pm New Jersey 4 – 5 (SO) Auld Prudential Center 13,743 13–12–4 30 30 December 10 7:00pm Vancouver 1–4 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,171S 13–13–4 30 31 December 13 7:00pm Buffalo 3 – 2 (OT) Anderson First Niagara Center 18,690 14–13–4 32 32 December 14 7:30pm Boston 2–5 Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,088 14–14–4 32 33 December 16 7:30pm Pittsburgh 6–4 Auld Scotiabank Place 19,710S 15–14–4 34 34 December 20 7:30pm Buffalo 4–1 Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,474 16–14–4 36 35 December 22 7:30pm Florida 4 – 3 (OT) Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,296S 17–14–4 38 36 December 23 7:00pm Carolina 1 – 2 (OT) Anderson RBC Center 14,556 17–14–5 39 37 December 27 7:30pm Montreal 2–6 Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,500S 17–15–5 39 38 December 30 7:30pm Calgary 4–3 (OT) Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,500S 18–15–5 41 39 December 31 7:00pm Buffalo 3–2 (SO) Anderson First Niagara Center 18,690 19–15–5 43
January (Games: 14; Home: 4; Road: 10) (Record: 8–5–1; Home: 3–1–0; Road: 5–4–1) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 40 January 2 7:30pm New Jersey 3 – 2 (OT) Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,573S 20–15–5 45 41 January 5 7:30pm Tampa Bay 4–1 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,994S 21–15–5 47 42 January 7 1:00pm Philadelphia 2 – 3 (OT) Anderson Wells Fargo Center 19,792 21–15–6 48 43 January 8 5:00pm Philadelphia 6–4 Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,028S 22–15–6 50 44 January 10 7:00pm Pittsburgh 5–1 Anderson Consol Energy Center 18,603 23–15–6 52 45 January 12 7:00pm NY Rangers 3–0 Anderson Madison Square Garden 18,200 24–15–6 54 46 January 14 7:00pm Montreal 3 – 2 (SO) Anderson Bell Centre 21,273 25–15–6 56 47 January 16 7:30pm Winnipeg 0–2 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,927S 25–16–6 56 48 January 17 7:00pm Toronto 3–2 Anderson Air Canada Centre 19,615 26–16–6 58 49 January 19 10:30pm San Jose 4–1 Anderson HP Pavilion 17,562 27–16–6 60 50 January 21 4:00pm Anaheim 1–2 Anderson Honda Center 15,500 27–17–6 60 51 January 23 10:30pm Los Angeles 1–4 Anderson Staples Center 18,118 27–18–6 60 52 January 24 9:00pm Phoenix 2–3 Anderson Jobing.com Arena 8,061 27–19–6 60 53 January 31 7:00pm Boston 3–4 Anderson TD Garden 17,565 27–20–6 60
February (Games: 12; Home: 8; Road: 4) (Record: 7–3–2; Home: 3–3–2; Road: 4–0–0) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 54 February 3 7:30pm NY Islanders 1 – 2 (OT) Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,252 27–20–7 61 55 February 4 7:00pm Toronto 0–5 Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,500S 27–21–7 61 56 February 7 7:30pm St. Louis 1–3 Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,952 27–22–7 61 57 February 9 7:30pm Nashville 4–3 Auld Scotiabank Place 18,592 28–22–7 63 58 February 11 2:00pm Edmonton 3 – 4 (OT) Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,085S 28–22–8 64 59 February 14 7:00pm Tampa Bay 4–0 Anderson St. Pete Times Forum 17,488 29–22–8 66 60 February 15 7:30pm Florida 6–2 Anderson BankAtlantic Center 14,038 30–22–8 68 61 February 20 1:00pm NY Islanders 6–0 Anderson Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,818 31–22–8 70 62 February 22 7:00pm Washington 5–2 Anderson Scotiabank Place 18,357 32–22–8 72 63 February 25 7:00pm Boston 3–5 Auld Scotiabank Place 19,444S 32–23–8 72 64 February 26 5:00pm NY Islanders 5–2 Lehner Scotiabank Place 19,660S 33–23–8 74 65 February 28 7:00pm Boston 1–0 Lehner TD Garden 17,565 34–23–8 76
March (Games: 13; Home: 7; Road: 6) (Record: 6–5–2; Home: 3–3–1; Road: 3–2–1) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 2 7:00pm Chicago 1–2 Lehner Scotiabank Place 18,788 34–24–8 76 67 March 4 6:00pm Florida 2–4 Lehner BankAtlantic Center 15,811 34–25–8 76 68 March 6 7:30pm Tampa Bay 7–3 Bishop St. Pete Times Forum 18,967 35–25–8 78 69 March 8 7:30pm NY Rangers 4–1 Bishop Scotiabank Place 18,854 36–25–8 80 70 March 10 7:00pm Buffalo 3 – 4 (SO) Bishop Scotiabank Place 19,951S 36–25–9 81 71 March 14 7:30pm Montreal 2 – 3 (SO) Bishop Bell Centre 21,273 36–25–10 82 72 March 16 7:00pm Montreal 2 – 1 (OT) Bishop Scotiabank Place 20,500S 37–25–10 84 73 March 17 7:00pm Toronto 1–3 Bishop Scotiabank Place 20,500S 37–26–10 84 74 March 20 7:30pm New Jersey 0–1 Bishop Scotiabank Place 19,834S 37–27–10 84 75 March 23 7:30pm Montreal 1–5 Anderson Bell Centre 21,273 37–28–10 84 76 March 24 7:00pm Pittsburgh 8–4 Anderson Scotiabank Place 20,076S 38–28–10 86 77 March 26 8:30pm Winnipeg 6–4 Anderson MTS Centre 15,004 39–28–10 88 78 March 31 1:00pm Philadelphia 4 – 3 (SO) Anderson Wells Fargo Center 19,822 40–28–10 90
April (Games: 4; Home: 2; Road: 2) Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 79 April 1 3:00pm NY Islanders 5–1 Anderson Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,210 41–28–10 92 80 April 3 7:30pm Carolina 1–2 Anderson Scotiabank Place 19,484S 41–29–10 92 81 April 5 7:30pm Boston 1–3 Bishop Scotiabank Place 20,500S 41–30–10 92 82 April 7 3:00pm New Jersey 2–4 Anderson Prudential Center 17,625 41–31–10 92

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	20,182S	1–2
4	April 18	7:30 pm	3–2 (OT)	Anderson	Scotiabank Place	20,340S	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	20,500S	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 Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Spezza, JasonJason Spezza 80 34 50 84 11 36 Karlsson, ErikErik Karlsson 81 19 59 78 16 42 Michalek, MilanMilan Michalek 77 35 25 60 4 32 Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson 75 27 32 59 16 18 Foligno, NickNick Foligno 82 15 32 47 2 124 Greening, ColinColin Greening 82 17 20 37 −4 46 Gonchar, SergeiSergei Gonchar 74 5 32 37 −4 55 Kuba, FilipFilip Kuba 73 6 26 32 26 26 †Turris, KyleKyle Turris 49 12 17 29 12 27 Neil, ChrisChris Neil 72 13 15 28 −10 178 Smith, ZackZack Smith 81 14 12 26 4 98 Condra, ErikErik Condra 81 8 17 25 11 30 Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips 80 5 14 19 12 16 Cowen, JaredJared Cowen 82 5 12 17 −4 56 Butler, BobbyBobby Butler 56 6 10 16 8 12 Daugavins, KasparsKaspars Daugavins 65 5 6 11 −2 12 † Lee, BrianBrian Lee 35 1 7 8 −2 27 Winchester, JesseJesse Winchester 32 2 6 8 2 22 O'Brien, JimJim O'Brien 28 3 3 6 6 4 Konopka, ZenonZenon Konopka 55 3 2 5 −4 193 Da Costa, StephaneStephane Da Costa 22 3 2 5 −9 8 Regin, PeterPeter Regin 10 2 2 4 3 2 ‡ Rundblad, DavidDavid Rundblad 24 1 3 4 −11 6 Carkner, MattMatt Carkner 29 1 2 3 0 33 † Gilroy, MattMatt Gilroy 14 1 2 3 0 2 Klinkhammer, RobRob Klinkhammer 15 0 2 2 0 2 Filatov, NikitaNikita Filatov 9 0 1 1 1 4 Zibanejad, MikaMika Zibanejad 9 0 1 1 −3 2 Hoffman, MikeMike Hoffman 1 0 0 0 −1 0 Petersson, AndreAndre Petersson 1 0 0 0 0 0 Borowiecki, MarkMark Borowiecki 2 0 0 0 −1 2 As of April 8, 2012.

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Spezza, JasonJason Spezza 7 3 2 5 2 8 Gonchar, SergeiSergei Gonchar 7 1 3 4 1 6 Foligno, NickNick Foligno 7 1 3 4 −1 8 Neil, ChrisChris Neil 7 2 1 3 2 22 Turris, KyleKyle Turris 7 1 2 3 −1 2 Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson 4 2 0 2 −3 0 Kuba, FilipFilip Kuba 7 0 2 2 1 10 Konopka, ZenonZenon Konopka 6 0 2 2 2 2 Michalek, MilanMilan Michalek 7 1 1 2 3 4 Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips 7 0 1 1 0 4 Carkner, MattMatt Carkner 4 0 1 1 1 21 Greening, ColinColin Greening 7 0 1 1 1 0 Condra, ErikErik Condra 7 1 0 1 0 0 O'Brien, JimJim O'Brien 7 0 1 1 0 0 Smith, ZackZack Smith 7 0 1 1 -2 10 Karlsson, ErikErik Karlsson 7 1 0 1 0 4 Cowen, JaredJared Cowen 7 0 1 1 −3 4 Stone, MarkMark Stone 1 0 1 1 1 0 Daugavins, KasparsKaspars Daugavins 1 0 0 0 −1 0 Winchester, JesseJesse Winchester 4 0 0 0 -2 0 Gilroy, MattMatt Gilroy 3 0 0 0 0 0 Silfverberg, JakobJakob Silfverberg 2 0 0 0 0 2 Butler, BobbyBobby Butler 3 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

Source: NHL.

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OTL GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A Pts PIM Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson 63 3492 33 22 6 165 2.84 1917 .914 3 0 4 4 4 Auld, AlexAlex Auld 14 645 2 4 2 36 3.35 310 .884 0 0 0 0 0 †Bishop, BenBen Bishop 10 532 3 3 2 22 2.48 243 .909 0 0 0 0 2 Lehner, RobinRobin Lehner 5 299 3 2 0 10 2.01 154 .935 1 0 0 0 0

Playoffs
Player GP Min W L GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A Pts PIM Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson 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.

Note:

Pos = Position; GP = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards/Milestones

Awards

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

Regular season Player Achievement Date Mika Zibanejad 1st NHL game 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point October 7, 2011 Stephane Da Costa 1st NHL goal 1st NHL point October 8, 2011 David Rundblad 1st NHL game October 11, 2011 David Rundblad 1st NHL assist 1st 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 goal 1st NHL point 1st NHL GWG October 30, 2011 Jared Cowen 1st NHL goal 1st NHL point November 1, 2011 Stephane Da Costa 1st NHL assist Kaspars Daugavins 1st NHL assist November 12, 2011 Jason Spezza 200th NHL goal November 27, 2011 David Rundblad 1st NHL goal 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 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 Daniel Alfredsson 400th NHL goal December 30, 2011 Mark Borowiecki 1st NHL game January 19, 2012 Sergei Gonchar 1,100th NHL game Andre Petersson 1st NHL game January 21, 2012 Chris Neil 700th NHL game Daniel Alfredsson 1,100th NHL game 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 assist 1st 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 Colin Greening March 24, 2012 Zenon Konopka 250th NHL game

Playoffs Player Achievement Date Zenon Konpoka 1st NHL playoff game 1st NHL playoff assist 1st NHL playoff point April 14, 2012 Mark Stone 1st NHL point April 21, 2012

Final roster

Updated April 23, 2012.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
11	Sweden	Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson  (C)	7.0 RW	R	52	1994	Gothenburg, Sweden
41	United States	Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson	1.0 G	R	43	2011	Park Ridge, Illinois
35	Canada	Auld, AlexAlex Auld	1.0 G	L	44	2011	Cold Lake, Alberta
30	United States	Bishop, BenBen Bishop	1.0 G	L	38	2012	Denver, Colorado
74	Canada	Borowiecki, MarkMark Borowiecki	2.0 D	L	35	2008	Ottawa, Ontario
16	United States	Butler, BobbyBobby Butler	7.0 RW	R	37	2010	Marlborough, Massachusetts
39	Canada	Carkner, MattMatt Carkner	2.0 D	R	44	2007	Winchester, Ontario
22	United States	Condra, ErikErik Condra	7.0 RW	R	38	2006	Trenton, Michigan
2	Canada	Cowen, JaredJared Cowen	2.0 D	L	34	2009	Allan, Saskatchewan
24	France	Da Costa, StephaneStephane Da Costa	7.0 RW	R	35	2011	Paris, France
23	Latvia	Daugavins, KasparsKaspars Daugavins	6.0 LW	L	36	2006	Riga, Soviet Union
59	Canada	Dziurzynski, DavidDavid Dziurzynski	6.0 LW	L	35	2010	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
71	United States	Foligno, NickNick Foligno	6.0 LW	L	37	2006	Buffalo, New York
97	United States	Gilroy, MattMatt Gilroy	2.0 D	R	40	2012	North Bellmore, New York
55	Russia	Gonchar, SergeiSergei Gonchar	2.0 D	L	51	2010	Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union
14	Canada	Greening, ColinColin Greening	4.0 C	L	39	2005	St. John's, Newfoundland
62	Canada	Gryba, EricEric Gryba	2.0 D	R	37	2006	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
68	Canada	Hoffman, MikeMike Hoffman	4.0 C	L	35	2009	Kitchener, Ontario
65	Sweden	Karlsson, ErikErik Karlsson	2.0 D	R	34	2008	Landsbro, Sweden
36	Canada	Klinkhammer, RobRob Klinkhammer	4.0 C	L	38	2011	Lethbridge, Alberta
28	Canada	Konopka, ZenonZenon Konopka	4.0 C	L	44	2011	Niagara Falls, Ontario
17	Czech Republic	Kuba, FilipFilip Kuba	2.0 D	L	48	2008	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
40	Sweden	Lehner, RobinRobin Lehner	1.0 G	L	33	2009	Gothenburg, Sweden
9	Czech Republic	Michalek, MilanMilan Michalek	6.0 LW	L	40	2009	Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia
25	Canada	Neil, ChrisChris Neil	7.0 RW	R	45	1998	Flesherton, Ontario
42	United States	O'Brien, JimJim O'Brien	4.0 C	R	36	2007	Maplewood, Minnesota
20	Sweden	Petersson, AndreAndre Petersson	4.0 C	R	34	2008	Olofström, Sweden
4	Canada	Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips  (A)	2.0 D	L	47	1996	Calgary, Alberta
13	Denmark	Regin, PeterPeter Regin	4.0 C	L	39	2004	Herning, Denmark
33	Sweden	Silfverberg, JakobJakob Silfverberg	6.0 LW	R	34	2009	Gävle, Sweden
15	Canada	Smith, ZackZack Smith	4.0 C	R	37	2008	Maple Creek, Saskatchewan
19	Canada	Spezza, JasonJason Spezza  (A)	4.0 C	R	41	2001	Mississauga, Ontario
60	Canada	Stone, MarkMark Stone	4.0 C	R	32	2010	Winnipeg, Manitoba
7	Canada	Turris, KyleKyle Turris	4.0 C	R	35	2011	New Westminster, British Columbia
46	Canada	Wiercioch, PatrickPatrick Wiercioch	2.0 D	L	34	2008	Maple Ridge, British Columbia
18	Canada	Winchester, JesseJesse Winchester	4.0 C	R	41	2008	Cornwall, Ontario
93	Sweden	Zibanejad, MikaMika Zibanejad	4.0 C	R	32	2011	Stockholm, Sweden

Transactions

Trades Date Details June 24, 2011 To Detroit Red Wings 2nd-round pick (#35 overall) in 2011 (Tomas Jurco) 2nd-round pick (#48 overall) in 2011 (Xavier Ouellet) To Ottawa Senators 1st-round pick (#24 overall) in 2011 (Matthew Puempel) June 25, 2011 To Columbus Blue Jackets 3rd-round pick (#66 overall) in 2011 (Thomas Tynan) To Ottawa Senators Nikita Filatov December 2, 2011 To Chicago Blackhawks Conditional 7th-round pick in 2013 To Ottawa Senators Rob Klinkhammer December 17, 2011 To Phoenix Coyotes David Rundblad 2nd-round pick in 2012 To Ottawa Senators Kyle Turris February 26, 2012 To St. Louis Blues 2nd-round pick in 2013 To Ottawa Senators Ben Bishop February 27, 2012 To Tampa Bay Lightning Brian Lee To Ottawa Senators Matt 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  Sweden Djurgardens IF Hockey (SEL) 1 21 (from Nashville) Stefan Noesen Right Wing  United States Plymouth Whalers (OHL) 1 24 (from Detroit) Matthew Puempel Left Wing  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL) 2 61 (from Boston) Shane Prince Centre  United States Ottawa 67's (OHL) 4 96 Jean-Gabriel Pageau Centre  Canada Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) 5 126 Fredrik Claesson Defence  Sweden Djurgardens IF (SEL) 6 156 Darren Kramer Centre  Canada Spokane Chiefs (WHL) 6 171 (from Phoenix) Max McCormick Left Wing  United States Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) 7 186 Jordan Fransoo Defence  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 7 204 (from Pittsburgh) Ryan Dzingel Centre  United States Lincoln Stars (USHL) See also 2011–12 NHL season References