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2011 Stanley Cup playoffs

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2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
Tournament details
DatesApril 13 –
June 15, 2011
Teams16
Final positions
ChampionsBoston Bruins
Runner-upVancouver Canucks
Semifinalists

The 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 13, 2011, after the conclusion of the 2010–11 NHL regular season.[1] The first game of the Finals was held on June 1, while the deciding seventh game was held on June 15.[2]

The Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the Finals to capture their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972, their sixth overall Stanley Cup win. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs. Bruins forward David Krejci lead all playoff scorers with 23 points in 25 games.

Playoff seeds

After the regular season, the standard 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The Vancouver Canucks were the Western Conference regular season champions and the Presidents' Trophy winners with the best record in the NHL at 117 points. The Washington Capitals earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points. This is the first time in sports history that all California teams have made the playoffs in the same year. It also marked the first year since 1996 that the New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs, ending a 13-year playoff streak.[3][4]

Eastern Conference

  1. Washington Capitals, Southeast Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 107 points
  2. Philadelphia Flyers, Atlantic Division champions – 106 points (44 ROWs)
  3. Boston Bruins, Northeast Division champions – 103 points
  4. Pittsburgh Penguins – 106 points (39 ROWs)
  5. Tampa Bay Lightning – 103 points
  6. Montreal Canadiens – 96 points (41 ROWs)
  7. Buffalo Sabres – 96 points (38 ROWs)
  8. New York Rangers – 93 points

Western Conference

  1. Vancouver Canucks, Northwest Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 117 points
  2. San Jose Sharks, Pacific Division champions – 105 points
  3. Detroit Red Wings, Central Division champions – 104 points
  4. Anaheim Ducks – 99 points (43 ROWs)
  5. Nashville Predators – 99 points (38 ROWs, 4 points head-to-head vs. Phoenix, +25 goal differential)
  6. Phoenix Coyotes – 99 points (38 ROWs, 4 points head-to-head vs. Nashville, +5 goal differential)
  7. Los Angeles Kings – 98 points
  8. Chicago Blackhawks – 97 points

Playoff bracket

Template:2011 Stanley Cup playoffs

Conference Quarterfinals

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(1) Washington Capitals vs. (8) New York Rangers

The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference regular season champions, earning 107 points. The New York Rangers qualified for the postseason as the eighth seed with 93 points. This was the sixth playoff series between the two franchises; Washington had won three of the previous five meetings between these teams. The two teams had previously met in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, in which the Capitals defeated the Rangers in seven games. In the regular season series, the Rangers held a 3–1–0 record, winning the last three games by a combined score of 15–1,[5][6] although the Rangers were only able to score eight goals in this series, losing it in five games.


April 13 New York Rangers 1–2 OT Washington Capitals Verizon Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Matt Gilroy (1) – 01:56 Third period 13:44 – Alexander Ovechkin (1)
No scoring First overtime period 18:24 – Alexander Semin (1)
Henrik Lundqvist 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Michal Neuvirth 24 saves / 25 shots
April 15 New York Rangers 0–2 Washington Capitals Verizon Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 02:11 – Jason Chimera (1)
04:08 – pp – Jason Arnott (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Henrik Lundqvist 16 saves / 18 shots Goalie stats Michal Neuvirth 22 saves / 22 shots
April 17 Washington Capitals 2–3 New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Alexander Ovechkin (2) – 19:00 Second period 05:30 – pp – Erik Christensen (1)
Mike Knuble (1) – pp – 14:48 Third period 08:01 – Vaclav Prospal (1)
18:21 – Brandon Dubinsky (1)
Michal Neuvirth 32 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Henrik Lundqvist 23 saves / 25 shots
April 20 Washington Capitals 4–3 2OT New York Rangers Madison Square Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:24 – Artem Anisimov (1)
13:40 – Marian Gaborik (1)
13:47 – Brandon Dubinsky (2)
Alexander Semin (2) – 02:47
Marcus Johansson (1) – 03:44
Marcus Johansson (2) – 12:07 		Third period No scoring
Jason Chimera (2) – 12:36 Second overtime period No scoring
Michal Neuvirth 36 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Henrik Lundqvist 49 saves / 53 shots
April 23 New York Rangers 1–3 Washington Capitals Verizon Center Recap  
No scoring First period 05:59 – pp – Mike Green (1)
No scoring Second period 07:04 – Alexander Ovechkin (3)
Wojtek Wolski (1) – 19:28 Third period 16:23 – Alexander Semin (3)
Henrik Lundqvist 24 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Michal Neuvirth 26 saves / 27 shots
Washington won series 4–1


(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres

The Philadelphia Flyers entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Atlantic Division with 106 points, winning the tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Penguins on regulation + overtime wins (44 to 39). The Buffalo Sabres earned the seventh seed with 96 points, losing the tiebreaker to Montreal on wins (43 to 44). This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams; Philadelphia had won five of the eight previous playoff series. They last met in the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which ended with Buffalo defeating Philadelphia in six games.

The series started out with a 1–0 shutout victory for Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller in game one, while Philadelphia came back to win games two and three. Miller got another 1–0 shutout victory in game four to tie the series at 2–2. In game five, Buffalo was up 3–0 at the end of the first period, but Philadelphia scored three goals to send the game to overtime. However, Tyler Ennis of Buffalo would score the overtime winner. In game six, Buffalo looked in good position to win after being up 3–1 after the first period, but Philadelphia rallied back, winning the game 5–4 on Ville Leino's overtime winner. In game seven, Philadelphia went up 4–0 about two minutes into the third period on a goal by Leino. Philadelphia ended up winning the game by a score of 5–2, winning the series four games to three. This was the last time the Sabres appeared in the playoffs.


April 14 Buffalo Sabres 1–0 Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Patrick Kaleta (1) – 05:56 Third period No scoring
Ryan Miller 35 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Sergei Bobrovsky 24 saves / 25 shots
April 16 Buffalo Sabres 4–5 Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
Thomas Vanek (1) – pp – 06:43
Thomas Vanek (2) – pp – 09:43
Andrej Sekera (1) – 12:30 		First period 04:00 – Claude Giroux (1)
07:20 – Daniel Carcillo (1)
13:14 – James van Riemsdyk (1)
No scoring Second period 13:36 – pp – Ville Leino (1)
15:27 – Daniel Briere (1)
Cody McCormick (1) – 06:12 Third period No scoring
Ryan Miller 29 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Sergei Bobrovsky 4 saves / 7 shots
Brian Boucher 20 saves / 21 shots
April 18 Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
Jeff Carter (1) – pp – 04:42 First period 11:55 – pp – Drew Stafford (1)
Daniel Briere (2) – 02:44
Nikolay Zherdev (1) – 16:44 		Second period 18:12 – Nathan Gerbe (1)
Kimmo Timonen (1) – en – 19:42 Third period No scoring
Brian Boucher 35 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 22 saves / 25 shots
April 20 Philadelphia Flyers 0–1 Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 09:38 – Jason Pominville (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Brian Boucher 28 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Ryan Miller 32 saves / 32 shots
April 22 Buffalo Sabres 4–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
Tyler Ennis (1) – 02:24
Thomas Vanek (3) – 03:51
Marc-Andre Gragnani (1) – pp – 15:36 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 08:12 – James van Riemsdyk (2)
09:57 – Andrej Meszaros (1)
No scoring Third period 03:36 – Daniel Briere (3)
Tyler Ennis (2) – 05:31 First overtime period No scoring
Ryan Miller 36 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Brian Boucher 8 saves / 11 shots
Michael Leighton 20 saves / 21 shots
April 24 Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 OT Buffalo Sabres HSBC Arena Recap  
Daniel Briere (4) – 14:53 First period 02:13 – Rob Niedermayer (1)
08:41 – pp – Thomas Vanek (4)
19:27 – pp – Thomas Vanek (5)
James van Riemsdyk (3) – 00:49
Daniel Briere – pp – 08:43 		Second period 16:09 – Nathan Gerbe (2)
Scott Hartnell (1) – 10:43 Third period No scoring
Ville Leino (2) – 04:43 First overtime period No scoring
Michael Leighton 5 saves / 8 shots
Brian Boucher 24 saves / 25 shots 		Goalie stats Ryan Miller 44 saves / 49 shots
April 26 Buffalo Sabres 2–5 Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
No scoring First period 19:41 – Braydon Coburn (1)
No scoring Second period 04:45 – pp – Daniel Briere (6)
10:19 – pp – Claude Giroux (2)
Tyler Myers (1) – 06:33
Brad Boyes (1) – pp – 15:21 		Third period 01:59 – Ville Leino (3)
10:03 – Daniel Carcillo (2)
Ryan Miller 24 saves / 28 shots
Jhonas Enroth 7 saves / 8 shots 		Goalie stats Brian Boucher 26 saves / 28 shots
Philadelphia won series 4–3


(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Northeast Division with 103 points. The Montreal Canadiens earned the sixth seed with 96 points, winning the tiebreaker over Buffalo on wins (44 to 43). One of the greatest rivalries in North American professional sports, this was the 33rd meeting of these teams in the postseason, which is the most frequent playoff series in NHL history. Montreal had a record of 24–8 against Boston in the 32 previous series played by the franchises, winning 18 straight between 1946 and 1987.[7][8] Boston had only beaten Montreal en route to winning the championship once before, in 1929. The most recent meeting of these teams in the postseason was in 2009, which ended with Boston sweeping Montreal.

During the 2010–11 season, Montreal won four of six meetings.[9] The February 9 game in which Boston won 8–6 featured six fights, a goalie fight, and a total of 187 penalty minutes.[10] The March 8 game, where the Canadiens beat the Bruins 4–1, was marred when the Bruins' Zdeno Chara checked Habs' Max Pacioretty into the glass, and the resulting injury ended Pacioretty's season.[11] The NHL did not suspend Chara for the hit, however Montreal Police opened a criminal investigation into the incident.[12]

In this series, the Boston Bruins dropped their first two games at home, but came back to hang on to a game three victory in Montreal. In game four, Andrei Kostitsyn gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3–1 lead, which they couldn't take advantage of, falling 5–4 on an overtime goal by former Montreal Canadien Michael Ryder. Game five was sent into double overtime for Nathan Horton to win it 2–1 for Boston, but in game six, Montreal scored twice on 5-on-3 power plays and won it 2–1. Game seven was also forced into overtime, where Nathan Horton again won the game 4–3 and sent the Bruins to the second round of the playoffs. Boston became the first team to win a seven-game post-season series despite being held scoreless on the power play.[13]

On April 10, the scheduled date of the French-language Canadian federal election debate between party leaders was changed from April 14 to April 13 so it would not conflict with game one of the series.[14] Games six and seven were played back-to-back due to a Lady Gaga concert, held on April 25 at the Bell Centre, and the requirement that the first round of the playoffs end by April 27.[15]


April 14 Montreal Canadiens 2–0 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Brian Gionta (1) – 02:44 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Brian Gionta (2) – 16:42 Third period No scoring
Carey Price 31 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 18 saves / 20 shots
April 16 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Michael Cammalleri (1) – 00:43
Mathieu Darche (1) – pp – 02:20 		First period No scoring
Yannick Weber (1) – 17:21 Second period 07:38 – Patrice Bergeron (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Carey Price 34 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 23 saves / 26 shots
April 18 Boston Bruins 4–2 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
David Krejci (1) – 03:11
Nathan Horton (1) – 14:38 		First period No scoring
Rich Peverley (1) – 02:02 Second period 07:03 – Andrei Kostitsyn (1)
Chris Kelly (1) – en – 19:34 Third period 04:08 – Tomas Plekanec (1)
Tim Thomas 34 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Carey Price 21 saves / 24 shots
April 21 Boston Bruins 5–4 OT Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 08:13 – Brent Sopel (1)
Michael Ryder (1) – 02:13
Andrew Ference (1) – 09:59
Patrice Bergeron (2) – 17:04 		Second period 06:52 – Michael Cammalleri (2)
07:47 – Andrei Kostitsyn (2)
Chris Kelly (2) – 13:42 Third period 01:39 – pp – P. K. Subban (1)
Michael Ryder (2) – 01:59 First overtime period No scoring
Tim Thomas 34 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Carey Price 30 saves / 35 shots
April 23 Montreal Canadiens 1–2 2OT Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Jeff Halpern (1) – 13:56 Third period 04:33 – Brad Marchand (1)
No scoring Second overtime period 09:03 – Nathan Horton (2)
Carey Price 49 saves / 51 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 44 saves / 45 shots
April 26 Boston Bruins 1–2 Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre Recap  
No scoring First period 10:07 – pp – Michael Cammalleri (3)
Dennis Seidenberg (1) – 00:48 Second period 05:48 – pp – Brian Gionta (3)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Tim Thomas 25 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Carey Price 31 saves / 32 shots
April 27 Montreal Canadiens 3–4 OT Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Yannick Weber (2) – pp – 09:49 First period 03:31 – Johnny Boychuk (1)
05:33 – Mark Recchi (1)
Tomas Plekanec (2) – sh – 05:50 Second period No scoring
P. K. Subban (2) – pp – 18:03 Third period 09:44 – Chris Kelly (3)
No scoring First overtime period 05:43 – Nathan Horton (3)
Carey Price 30 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 34 saves / 37 shots
Boston won series 4–3


(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 106 points, losing the tiebreaker for the Atlantic Division title to the Philadelphia Flyers on regulation + overtime wins (39 to 44). The Tampa Bay Lightning earned 103 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the first playoff series between these two teams.[16]

To start the series, Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury shut-out Tampa Bay 3–0 in game one, with the Lightning responding with a 5–1 win in game two. Unfortunately for the Lightning, they dropped games three and four (game four in double overtime), only to answer with a huge 8–2 victory in Pittsburgh, forcing a game six at home that ended 4–2 in favour of Tampa Bay. In game seven, Lightning forward Sean Bergenheim scored about five minutes into the second period. The Lightning managed to hold on to that 1–0 lead, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.


April 13 Tampa Bay Lightning 0–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 06:05 – Alexei Kovalev (1)
06:23 – Arron Asham (1)
19:18 – en – Chris Kunitz (1)
Dwayne Roloson 37 saves / 39 shots Goalie stats Marc-Andre Fleury 32 saves / 32 shots
April 15 Tampa Bay Lightning 5–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center Recap  
Eric Brewer (1) – 02:02
Vincent Lecavalier (1) – pp – 06:53
Nate Thompson (1) – 17:02 		First period No scoring
Martin St. Louis (1) – pp – 19:46 Second period 09:08 – Craig Adams (1)
Mattias Ohlund (1) – en – 17:55 Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 35 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Marc-Andre Fleury 16 saves / 20 shots
April 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Maxime Talbot (1) – 05:46
Arron Asham (2) – 06:31 		First period 15:19 – pp – Martin St. Louis (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Tyler Kennedy (1) – 02:43 Third period 02:12 – pp – Martin St. Louis (3)
Marc-Andre Fleury 25 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 27 saves / 30 shots
April 20 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 2OT Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Tyler Kennedy (2) – pp – 08:14 First period No scoring
Arron Asham (3) – 02:39 Second period 17:14 – pp – Martin St. Louis (4)
No scoring Third period 16:43 – Sean Bergenheim (1)
James Neal (1) – 03:38 Second overtime period No scoring
Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 50 saves / 53 shots
April 23 Tampa Bay Lightning 8–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center Recap  
Simon Gagne (1) – 16:57
Steven Stamkos (1) – 17:43 		First period No scoring
Vincent Lecavalier (2) – 01:55
Simon Gagne (2) – 05:31
Steven Stamkos (2) – pp – 07:00 		Second period No scoring
Pavel Kubina (1) – pp – 02:54
Pavel Kubina (2) – pp – 05:45
Dominic Moore – pp – 15:35 		Third period 06:36 – Michael Rupp (1)
08:22 – Chris Conner (1)
Dwayne Roloson 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Marc-Andre Fleury 10 saves / 14 shots
Brent Johnson 7 saves / 11 shots
April 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Pascal Dupuis (1) – 08:23 First period 16:36 – Teddy Purcell (1)
No scoring Second period 05:44 – Sean Bergenheim (2)
Jordan Staal (1) – 03:48 Third period 04:55 – Steve Downie (1)
09:34 – Ryan Malone (1)
Marc-Andre Fleury 17 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 27 saves / 29 shots
April 27 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–0 Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Sean Bergenheim (3) – 05:41 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 36 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 23 shots
Tampa Bay won series 4–3


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks

The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 117 points. The Chicago Blackhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions, qualified for the post-season as the eighth seed with 97 points. This was the third consecutive year that Vancouver has met Chicago in the playoffs. Chicago previously eliminated Vancouver in the second round in both 2009 and 2010; both of those series went to six games.[17] After losing the first three games of the series, Chicago won the next three. This was the seventh time in NHL history that a team forced a seventh game after trailing 3–0 in a playoff series.[18] However, Vancouver won the seventh game in overtime to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3–0 series lead.


April 13 Chicago Blackhawks 0–2 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:03 – Chris Higgins (1)
10:23 – Jannik Hansen (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Corey Crawford 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 32 saves / 32 shots
April 15 Chicago Blackhawks 3–4 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 07:30 – Jannik Hansen (2)
Ben Smith (1) – 14:50 Second period 00:30 – pp – Daniel Sedin (1)
19:46 – Alexander Edler (1)
Viktor Stalberg (1) – 01:56
Ben Smith (2) – 12:50 		Third period 10:06 – Daniel Sedin (2)
Corey Crawford 23 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 23 saves / 26 shots
April 17 Vancouver Canucks 3–2 Chicago Blackhawks United Center Recap  
No scoring First period 06:54 – pp – Duncan Keith (1)
Christian Ehrhoff (1) – pp – 10:03
Daniel Sedin (3) – 10:57 		Second period 12:40 – pp – Patrick Sharp (1)
Mikael Samuelsson (1) – 06:48 Third period No scoring
Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 32 shots Goalie stats Corey Crawford 23 saves / 26 shots
April 19 Vancouver Canucks 2–7 Chicago Blackhawks United Center Recap  
Sami Salo (1) – pp – 04:46 First period 01:43 – Bryan Bickell (1)
No scoring Second period 05:18 – Brian Campbell (1)
05:35 – Duncan Keith (2)
14:45 – Dave Bolland (1)
18:57 – Michael Frolik (1)
Daniel Sedin (4) – pp – 16:24 Third period 02:49 – pp – Patrick Sharp (2)
13:21 – pp – Patrick Sharp (3)
Roberto Luongo 22 saves / 28 shots
Cory Schneider 6 saves / 7 shots 		Goalie stats Corey Crawford 21 saves / 23 shots
April 21 Chicago Blackhawks 5–0 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
Marian Hossa (1) – pp – 05:54
Duncan Keith (3) – 06:18
Patrick Kane (1) – 12:17 		First period No scoring
Marian Hossa (2) – 01:26
Duncan Keith (4) – 04:47 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
Corey Crawford 36 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 8 saves / 12 shots
Cory Schneider 13 saves / 14 shots
April 24 Vancouver Canucks 3–4 OT Chicago Blackhawks United Center Recap  
Daniel Sedin (5) – 02:06
Alexandre Burrows (1) – 18:48 		First period 14:57 – Bryan Bickell (2)
No scoring Second period 15:08 – Dave Bolland (2)
Kevin Bieksa (1) – 00:58 Third period 02:31 – ps – Michael Frolik (2)
No scoring First overtime period 15:30 – Ben Smith (3)
Cory Schneider 17 saves / 20 shots
Roberto Luongo 12 saves / 13 shots 		Goalie stats Corey Crawford 32 saves / 35 shots
April 26 Chicago Blackhawks 1–2 OT Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 02:43 – Alexandre Burrows (2)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Jonathan Toews (1) – sh – 18:04 Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 05:22 – Alexandre Burrows (3)
Corey Crawford 36 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 31 saves / 32 shots
Vancouver won series 4–3


(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings

The San Jose Sharks entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference after winning the Pacific Division with 105 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned the seventh seed with 98 points. This was the first meeting of these teams in the post-season.[19]

The series started out with a bang in game one, with Dany Heatley scoring only 28 seconds into the game. That game was later on won by Joe Pavelski in overtime, but a good response by the Kings in game two gave them a 4–0 shutout victory in San Jose. In game three, San Jose became the fifth team in NHL playoff history to win a game after facing a 4–0 deficit, where Devin Setoguchi of San Jose scored the game-winning goal in overtime, to make the final score 6–5. Still, at home, Los Angeles lost game four by a score of 6–3. In game five, at San Jose, Los Angeles would win by a score of 3–1. However, that would not be enough, as Joe Thornton of San Jose scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game six to eliminate Los Angeles from the playoffs.


April 14 Los Angeles Kings 2–3 OT San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 00:28 – Dany Heatley (1)
Dustin Brown (1) – pp – 07:25
Justin Williams (1) – 16:20 		Second period 10:23 – Logan Couture (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 14:44 – Joe Pavelski (1)
Jonathan Quick 42 saves / 45 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 33 saves / 35 shots
April 16 Los Angeles Kings 4–0 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Jack Johnson (1) – pp – 12:13
Drew Doughty (1) – pp – 15:43 		First period No scoring
Drew Doughty (2) – 15:42 Second period No scoring
Kyle Clifford (1) – 04:54 Third period No scoring
Jonathan Quick 34 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 19 saves / 23 shots
April 19 San Jose Sharks 6–5 OT Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
No scoring First period 02:26 – Willie Mitchell (1)
02:39 – Kyle Clifford (2)
18:22 – Michal Handzus (1)
Patrick Marleau (1) – 03:08
Ryane Clowe (1) – pp – 06:53
Logan Couture (2) – 13:32
Ryane Clowe (2) – 18:35
Joe Pavelski (2) – 19:29 		Second period 00:44 – Brad Richardson (1)
13:47 – Ryan Smyth (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Devin Setoguchi (1) – 03:09 First overtime period No scoring
Antti Niemi 6 saves / 10 shots
Antero Niittymaki 11 saves / 12 shots 		Goalie stats Jonathan Quick 30 saves / 36 shots
April 21 San Jose Sharks 6–3 Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Ryane Clowe (3) – 03:58
Jason Demers (1) – 05:12
Ryane Clowe (4) – pp – 09:28 		Second period 11:00 – Brad Richardson (2)
16:04 – Justin Williams (2)
Joe Thornton (1) – 02:28
Joe Pavelski (3) – 03:22
Torrey Mitchell (1) – 11:42 		Third period 13:11 – Alexei Ponikarovsky (1)
Antti Niemi 35 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Jonathan Quick 21 saves / 27 shots
April 23 Los Angeles Kings 3–1 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Wayne Simmonds (1) – 03:36
Kyle Clifford (3) – 07:14
Dustin Penner (1) – 08:42 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:43 – Patrick Marleau (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Jonathan Quick 51 saves / 52 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 1 save / 4 shots
Antero Niittymaki 18 saves / 18 shots
April 25 San Jose Sharks 4–3 OT Los Angeles Kings Staples Center Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Kyle Wellwood (1) – 02:58
Jason Demers (2) – 16:52 		Second period 13:27 – pp – Justin Williams (3)
Dany Heatley (2) – 08:48 Third period 00:18 – Ryan Smyth (2)
11:39 – pp – Trevor Lewis (1)
Joe Thornton (2) – 02:22 First overtime period No scoring
Antti Niemi 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Jonathan Quick 31 saves / 35 shots
San Jose won series 4–2


(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes

The Detroit Red Wings entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference after winning the Central Division with 104 points. This was Detroit's 20th straight appearance in the postseason. The Phoenix Coyotes earned the sixth seed with 99 points, losing tiebreakers to both the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators. This was a rematch of the previous year's first round series, in which Detroit defeated Phoenix in seven games.[20] The Red Wings had 13 different goal scorers in the series. This was the only sweep in the first round of the playoffs.


April 13 Phoenix Coyotes 2–4 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Kyle Turris (1) – 02:16 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 07:38 – Pavel Datsyuk (1)
12:02 – Johan Franzen (1)
18:16 – pp – Brian Rafalski (1)
Radim Vrbata (1) – 07:38 Third period 03:16 – Jiri Hudler (1)
Ilya Bryzgalov 32 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Jimmy Howard 26 saves / 28 shots
April 16 Phoenix Coyotes 3–4 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 10:42 – pp – Pavel Datsyuk (2)
15:50 – pp – Brian Rafalski (2)
19:01 – Darren Helm (1)
Radim Vrbata (2) – pp – 07:02 Second period 01:11 – Tomas Holmstrom (1)
Shane Doan (1) – pp – 05:49
Shane Doan (2) – pp – 08:37 		Third period No scoring
Ilya Bryzgalov 27 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Jimmy Howard 30 saves / 33 shots
April 18 Detroit Red Wings 4–2 Phoenix Coyotes Jobing.com Arena Recap  
Ruslan Salei (1) – 01:57
Drew Miller (1) – 02:41 		First period No scoring
Valtteri Filppula (1) – 02:50 Second period 11:43 – pp – David Schlemko (1)
Johan Franzen (2) – 00:45 Third period 13:00 – pp – Ray Whitney (1)
Jimmy Howard 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 30 saves / 34 shots
April 20 Detroit Red Wings 6–3 Phoenix Coyotes Jobing.com Arena Recap  
Tomas Holmstrom (2) – 03:47
Patrick Eaves (1) – 18:47 		First period 05:46 – Taylor Pyatt (1)
09:46 – Shane Doan (3)
Niklas Kronwall (1) – pp – 04:49 Second period 01:09 – pp – Martin Hanzal (1)
Daniel Cleary (1) – 13:41
Todd Bertuzzi (1) – 15:34
Patrick Eaves (2) – en – 19:24 		Third period No scoring
Jimmy Howard 24 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Ilya Bryzgalov 34 saves / 39 shots
Detroit won series 4–0


(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Nashville Predators

The Anaheim Ducks entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Western Conference with 99 points, winning tiebreakers over the Nashville Predators and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Nashville Predators also earned 99 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall. They lost the tiebreaker to Anaheim by having fewer games won (44 to 47). This was the first playoff series between these two teams.[21] After making the playoffs for the sixth time in 12 seasons, Nashville moved on to the second round for the first time in franchise history.[22]


April 13 Nashville Predators 4–1 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Shea Weber (1) – pp – 04:13 First period No scoring
Steve Sullivan (1) – 15:16
Mike Fisher (1) – 18:08 		Second period No scoring
Mike Fisher (2) – 00:56 Third period 11:24 – pp – Teemu Selanne (1)
Pekka Rinne 27 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Dan Ellis 20 saves / 24 shots
Ray Emery 6 saves / 6 shots
April 15 Nashville Predators 3–5 Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
No scoring First period 05:24 – pp – Corey Perry (1)
06:02 – pp – Teemu Selanne (2)
Shea Weber (2) – pp – 04:29 Second period 07:12 – Bobby Ryan (1)
15:54 – Ryan Getzlaf (1)
Patric Hornqvist (1) – pp – 01:30
Joel Ward (1) – 10:17 		Third period 19:07 – en – Bobby Ryan (2)
Pekka Rinne 23 saves / 27 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 31 saves / 34 shots
April 17 Anaheim Ducks 3–4 Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 15:00 – pp – Martin Erat (1)
15:38 – Jordin Tootoo (1)
Teemu Selanne (3) – pp – 18:10
Teemu Selanne (4) – 18:40 		Second period No scoring
Matt Beleskey (1) – 06:48 Third period 05:25 – David Legwand (1)
10:21 – Mike Fisher (3)
Ray Emery 33 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 13 saves / 16 shots
April 20 Anaheim Ducks 6–3 Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
Cam Fowler (1) – pp – 04:41
Saku Koivu (1) – 05:14 		First period 05:45 – Patric Hornqvist (2)
Teemu Selanne (5) – pp – 11:41 Second period 05:44 – pp – Joel Ward (2)
14:14 – Matthew Halischuk (1)
Corey Perry (2) – sh – 01:17
Ryan Getzlaf (2) – 04:51
Brandon McMillan (1) – 06:46 		Third period No scoring
Ray Emery 19 saves / 22 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 23 saves / 29 shots
Anders Lindback 9 saves / 9 shots
April 22 Nashville Predators 4–3 OT Anaheim Ducks Honda Center Recap  
Kevin Klein (1) – 08:32 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 13:39 – pp – Jason Blake (1)
Joel Ward (3) – 11:20
Shea Weber (3) – 19:24 		Third period 00:40 – Bobby Ryan (3)
14:16 – Jason Blake (2)
Jerred Smithson (1) – 01:57 First overtime period No scoring
Pekka Rinne 23 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Ray Emery 33 saves / 37 shots
April 24 Anaheim Ducks 2–4 Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
Teemu Selanne (6) – 10:22 First period 19:32 – Nick Spaling (1)
Jason Blake (3) – pp – 18:23 Second period 03:29 – Steve Sullivan (2)
No scoring Third period 04:43 – Nick Spaling (2)
19:50 – en – David Legwand (2)
Ray Emery 26 saves / 29 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 27 shots
Nashville won series 4–2


Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference Semifinals

(1) Washington Capitals vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

This was the second playoff series between these two teams. Washington and Tampa Bay previously met in the first round of the 2003 playoffs, where Tampa Bay defeated Washington in six games. In the six-game regular season series between these teams, Washington won four games (including one win in a shootout). In game one, Sean Bergenheim, the player with the winning goal in game seven against Pittsburgh, opened the scoring for Tampa Bay, but goals from Alexander Semin and Eric Fehr put Washington up 2–1, only for Tampa Bay to regain the lead and win with Steven Stamkos' late second period power play goal. Late in game two, Tampa Bay was up 2–1, when Alexander Ovechkin received a pass from behind the net to tie the game at two, but in overtime, Tampa Bay forward Vincent Lecavalier put in his second goal of the game to win it for Tampa Bay. Game three was a hard-fought game for Washington, after being up 3–2 to start the third period. However, Washington would ultimately lose game three by a score of 4–3. Washington would then lose game four by a score of 5–3, to fall to Tampa Bay in a 4–0 series sweep.


April 29 Tampa Bay Lightning 4–2 Washington Capitals Verizon Center Recap  
Sean Bergenheim (4) – 02:12 First period 04:08 – Alexander Semin (4)
Steve Downie (2) – 16:17
Steven Stamkos (3) – pp – 19:28 		Second period 01:51 – Eric Fehr (1)
Dominic Moore (2) – en – 19:20 Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 26 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Michal Neuvirth 20 saves / 23 shots
May 1 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2 OT Washington Capitals Verizon Center Recap  
Vincent Lecavalier (3) – pp – 19:01 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 14:52 – Brooks Laich (1)
Martin St. Louis (5) – 07:35 Third period 18:52 – Alexander Ovechkin (4)
Vincent Lecavalier (4) – 06:19 First overtime period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 35 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Michal Neuvirth 20 saves / 23 shots
May 3 Washington Capitals 3–4 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
No scoring First period 11:03 – Sean Bergenheim (5)
Mike Knuble (2) – 00:59
John Carlson (1) – 07:58
Alexander Ovechkin (5) – pp – 17:27 		Second period 11:51 – Vincent Lecavalier (5)
No scoring Third period 05:23 – Steven Stamkos (4)
05:47 – Ryan Malone (2)
Michal Neuvirth 26 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 29 saves / 32 shots
May 4 Washington Capitals 3–5 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Marco Sturm (1) – pp – 18:30 First period 12:37 – pp – Ryan Malone (3)
John Erskine (1) – 13:40 Second period 04:41 – Sean Bergenheim (6)
12:34 – Sean Bergenheim (7)
John Carlson (2) – 17:54 Third period 05:07 – pp – Marc-Andre Bergeron (1)
16:52 – Martin St. Louis (6)
Michal Neuvirth 32 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 33 saves / 36 shots
Tampa Bay won series 4–0


(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins

This was the sixth playoff series between these two teams. It was a rematch of the second-round series that was played the previous year, in which Philadelphia defeated Boston in seven games. Boston swept Philadelphia out of the playoffs to move to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992.[23] This series featured some goaltending trouble for Philadelphia; Boston outscored Philadelphia 20–7 in four games. Brian Boucher started the first three games, but was pulled in all three: he was removed from games one and three due to performance, and he was briefly removed from game two due to injury. In all, Philadelphia started three different goaltenders in the 11 games that they played in the 2011 playoffs; six of those games featured a change of goalie.[24]


April 30 Boston Bruins 7–3 Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
David Krejci (2) – 01:52
Nathan Horton (4) – 19:24 		First period 11:02 – Daniel Briere (7)
Mark Recchi (2) – 02:34
David Krejci (3) – 15:26
Brad Marchand (2) – 17:14 		Second period 17:30 – James van Riemsdyk (5)
Brad Marchand (3) – 14:59
Gregory Campbell (1) – 17:39 		Third period 13:02 – pp – Mike Richards (1)
Tim Thomas 31 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Brian Boucher 18 saves / 23 shots
Sergei Bobrovsky 8 saves / 10 shots
May 2 Boston Bruins 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers Wells Fargo Center Recap  
Chris Kelly (4) – 12:50
Brad Marchand (4) – 14:15 		First period 00:29 – James van Riemsdyk (6)
09:31 – pp – James van Riemsdyk (7)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
David Krejci (4) – 14:00 First overtime period No scoring
Tim Thomas 52 saves / 54 shots Goalie stats Brian Boucher 32 saves / 35 shots
Sergei Bobrovsky 6 saves / 6 shots
May 4 Philadelphia Flyers 1–5 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 00:30 – Zdeno Chara (1)
01:03 – David Krejci (5)
Andrej Meszaros (2) – 16:26 Second period 13:39 – Daniel Paille (1)
15:14 – Nathan Horton (5)
No scoring Third period 18:38 – pp – Zdeno Chara (2)
Brian Boucher 16 saves / 20 shots
Sergei Bobrovsky 7 saves / 8 shots 		Goalie stats Tim Thomas 37 saves / 38 shots
May 6 Philadelphia Flyers 1–5 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 12:02 – pp – Milan Lucic (1)
Kris Versteeg (1) – 13:22 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 02:42 – Johnny Boychuk (2)
15:03 – Milan Lucic (2)
18:04 – en – Brad Marchand (5)
19:35 – en – Daniel Paille (2)
Sergei Bobrovsky 22 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 22 saves / 23 shots
Boston won series 4–0


Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) Nashville Predators

This was the first playoff series between these two teams. It was also the first time that the Nashville Predators played in the second round of the playoffs. Vancouver and Nashville had split the four-game regular season series between them. Vancouver won this series in six games to advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1994.[25] Each game in this series was decided by just a single goal (with the exception of an empty net goal scored by Vancouver in game four).


April 28 Nashville Predators 0–1 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 12:14 – Chris Higgins (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Pekka Rinne 29 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 20 saves / 20 shots
April 30 Nashville Predators 2–1 2OT Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 02:00 – sh – Alexandre Burrows (4)
Ryan Suter (1) – 18:53 Third period No scoring
Matthew Halischuk (2) – 14:51 Second overtime period No scoring
Pekka Rinne 32 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 44 saves / 46 shots
May 3 Vancouver Canucks 3–2 OT Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 10:18 – sh – David Legwand (3)
Ryan Kesler (1) – pp – 01:00 Second period No scoring
Chris Higgins (3) – 03:03 Third period 13:18 – Joel Ward (4)
Ryan Kesler (2) – pp – 10:45 First overtime period No scoring
Roberto Luongo 28 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 44 saves / 47 shots
May 5 Vancouver Canucks 4–2 Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
Christian Ehrhoff (2) – 15:04 First period 19:18 – pp – Joel Ward (5)
Alexander Edler (2) – 09:43 Second period No scoring
Ryan Kesler (3) – pp – 07:28
Henrik Sedin (1) – en – 19:39 		Third period 03:27 – Cody Franson (1)
Roberto Luongo 19 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 24 saves / 27 shots
May 7 Nashville Predators 4–3 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
David Legwand (4) – sh – 03:42 First period 05:59 – Raffi Torres (1)
15:06 – Ryan Kesler (4)
David Legwand (5) – 00:51 Second period No scoring
Joel Ward (6) – 01:14
Joel Ward (7) – 05:45 		Third period 16:14 – Ryan Kesler (5)
Pekka Rinne 31 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 19 saves / 23 shots
May 9 Vancouver Canucks 2–1 Nashville Predators Bridgestone Arena Recap  
Mason Raymond (1) – 07:45
Daniel Sedin (6) – pp – 09:28 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 03:31 – David Legwand (6)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Roberto Luongo 23 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Pekka Rinne 17 saves / 19 shots
Vancouver won series 4–2


(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings

This was the fifth playoff series between these two teams. This was a rematch of the second-round series that took place the previous year, in which San Jose defeated Detroit in five games. After losing the first three games, Detroit won the next three, to force a seventh game. This was the eighth time this feat had been achieved in NHL history, the third time in the last two seasons, and the second time in the 2011 playoffs. Chicago had accomplished the same feat against Vancouver in the Quarterfinals, ultimately losing that series. Since the New York Islanders twice forced a game seven after being down 3–0 during the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs, there had been 112 consecutive failed attempts to repeat that feat prior to the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, after which it has happened in three of the seven possible series.[26] San Jose won the seventh game by a score of 3–2 to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3–0 series lead. It allowed them their second consecutive trip to the Conference Finals. Six of the games were decided by only one goal; the only exception was a 3–1 win by Detroit in game six, in which Darren Helm of Detroit scored an empty net goal.


April 29 Detroit Red Wings 1–2 OT San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
Nicklas Lidstrom (1) – 09:30 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 10:22 – pp – Joe Pavelski (4)
No scoring First overtime period 07:03 – Benn Ferriero (1)
Jimmy Howard 44 saves / 46 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 24 saves / 25 shots
May 1 Detroit Red Wings 1–2 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 04:54 – pp – Ian White (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Henrik Zetterberg (1) – pp – 13:58 Third period 01:39 – Niclas Wallin (1)
Jimmy Howard 35 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 33 saves / 34 shots
May 4 San Jose Sharks 4–3 OT Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Devin Setoguchi (2) – pp – 12:57 First period 19:38 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (2)
Devin Setoguchi (3) – pp – 14:49 Second period 13:59 – Patrick Eaves (3)
18:17 – pp – Pavel Datsyuk (3)
Dan Boyle (1) – 15:52 Third period No scoring
Devin Setoguchi (4) – 09:21 First overtime period No scoring
Antti Niemi 38 saves / 41 shots Goalie stats Jimmy Howard 34 saves / 38 shots
May 6 San Jose Sharks 3–4 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
Logan Couture (3) – 18:16 First period 06:22 – Todd Bertuzzi (2)
11:09 – Nicklas Lidstrom (3)
18:01 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (4)
Dan Boyle (2) – 13:44 Second period No scoring
Dany Heatley (3) – 01:14 Third period 18:33 – Darren Helm (2)
Antti Niemi 36 saves / 40 shots Goalie stats Jimmy Howard 25 saves / 28 shots
May 8 Detroit Red Wings 4–3 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 17:18 – Devin Setoguchi (5)
Niklas Kronwall (2) – 16:25 Second period 15:32 – Joe Pavelski (5)
Jonathan Ericsson (1) – 03:43
Daniel Cleary (2) – 05:29
Tomas Holmstrom (3) – 13:52 		Third period 00:54 – Logan Couture (4)
Jimmy Howard 39 saves / 42 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 18 saves / 22 shots
May 10 San Jose Sharks 1–3 Detroit Red Wings Joe Louis Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Logan Couture (5) – 03:54 Third period 10:38 – Henrik Zetterberg (2)
12:32 – Valtteri Filppula (2)
18:55 – en – Darren Helm (3)
Antti Niemi 42 saves / 44 shots Goalie stats Jimmy Howard 24 saves / 25 shots
May 12 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 12:20 – pp – Devin Setoguchi (6)
19:01 – Logan Couture (6)
Henrik Zetterberg (3) – 13:10 Second period No scoring
Pavel Datsyuk (4) – 13:59 Third period 12:13 – Patrick Marleau (3)
Jimmy Howard 27 saves / 30 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 38 saves / 40 shots
San Jose won series 4–3


Conference Finals

Main article: NHL Conference Finals

Eastern Conference Final

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

This was the first playoff series between these teams. Boston won three of the four games that were played in the regular season. Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin scored a goal and an assist in his first career playoff game in game one. In game two, he tied the NHL record for points by a teenager in a single playoff period with four points, two goals and two assists (held by Trevor Linden). Game seven featured remarkable discipline from both teams, as no penalties were called during the game, the first time this has happened in the playoffs in over twenty years. Boston's Nathan Horton recorded his second game-seven-winning goal in this year's playoffs, as his first was scored against Montreal in round one.


May 14 Tampa Bay Lightning 5–2 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Sean Bergenheim (8) – 11:15
Brett Clark (1) – 11:34
Teddy Purcell (2) – 12:40 		First period 15:59 – Tyler Seguin (1)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Marc-Andre Bergeron (2) – pp – 13:37
Simon Gagne (3) – en – 17:29 		Third period 18:59 – Johnny Boychuk (3)
Dwayne Roloson 31 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 29 saves / 33 shots
May 17 Tampa Bay Lightning 5–6 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Adam Hall (1) – 00:13
Martin St. Louis (7) – 19:53 		First period 13:58 – pp – Nathan Horton (6)
Vincent Lecavalier (6) – pp – 07:48 Second period 00:48 – Tyler Seguin (2)
02:24 – David Krejci (6)
06:30 – Tyler Seguin (3)
16:16 – pp – Michael Ryder (3)
19:41 – Michael Ryder (4)
Steven Stamkos (5) – 03:47
Dominic Moore (3) – 13:15 		Third period No scoring
Dwayne Roloson 21 saves / 27 shots
Mike Smith 8 saves / 8 shots 		Goalie stats Tim Thomas 36 saves / 41 shots
May 19 Boston Bruins 2–0 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
David Krejci (7) – 01:09 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Andrew Ference (2) – 08:12 Third period No scoring
Tim Thomas 31 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 23 saves / 25 shots
May 21 Boston Bruins 3–5 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Patrice Bergeron (3) – 11:47
Michael Ryder (5) – 16:34
Patrice Bergeron (4) – sh – 17:58 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 06:55 – Teddy Purcell (3)
07:58 – Teddy Purcell (4)
10:53 – Sean Bergenheim (9)
No scoring Third period 06:54 – Simon Gagne (4)
19:23 – en – Martin St. Louis (8)
Tim Thomas 32 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 6 saves / 9 shots
Mike Smith 21 saves / 21 shots
May 23 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–3 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
Simon Gagne (5) – 01:09 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 04:24 – Nathan Horton (7)
15:56 – Brad Marchand (6)
No scoring Third period 19:47 – en – Rich Peverley (2)
Mike Smith 17 saves / 19 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 33 saves / 34 shots
May 25 Boston Bruins 4–5 Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum Recap  
Milan Lucic (3) – 07:09
David Krejci (8) – 16:30 		First period 00:36 – Teddy Purcell (5)
No scoring Second period 07:55 – pp – Martin St. Louis (9)
13:35 – pp – Teddy Purcell (6)
David Krejci (9) – pp – 09:46
David Krejci (10) – 13:28 		Third period 00:34 – pp – Steven Stamkos (6)
10:15 – Martin St. Louis (10)
Tim Thomas 21 saves / 26 shots Goalie stats Dwayne Roloson 16 saves / 20 shots
May 27 Tampa Bay Lightning 0–1 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 12:27 – Nathan Horton (8)
Dwayne Roloson 37 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 24 saves / 24 shots
Boston won series 4–3


Western Conference Final

(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (2) San Jose Sharks

This was the first playoff series between these teams. Vancouver won three of the four games that were played in the regular season; their only loss to San Jose came in a shootout. Both Vancouver and San Jose played in a series during the 2011 playoffs (Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively) where each took a 3–0 series lead, only to see the opposing team win the next three games to force a seventh game. However, both won their respective seventh games to advance to the next round of the playoffs. San Jose, facing elimination in game five, held a 2–1 lead near the end of the game until Ryan Kesler forced overtime by scoring with only 13.2 seconds left in the third period after a controversial icing call. After a scoreless first overtime, Kevin Bieksa was able to capitalize on an unexpected rebound to score the series-winning goal 10:18 into the second overtime, sending Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1994. The Canucks had previously won the Western Conference Final on May 24, 1994, 17 years to the day before this year's Conference Final win. Both games went to double overtime.[27]


May 15 San Jose Sharks 2–3 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
Joe Thornton (3) – 18:47 First period No scoring
Patrick Marleau (4) – pp – 08:44 Second period 01:49 – Maxim Lapierre (1)
No scoring Third period 07:02 – Kevin Bieksa (2)
08:21 – pp – Henrik Sedin (2)
Antti Niemi 35 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 27 saves / 29 shots
May 18 San Jose Sharks 3–7 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
Logan Couture (7) – pp – 02:28
Patrick Marleau (5) – pp – 13:03 		First period 09:39 – pp – Daniel Sedin (7)
10:18 – Raffi Torres (2)
No scoring Second period 12:05 – Kevin Bieksa (3)
Ben Eager (1) – 17:27 Third period 07:56 – pp – Chris Higgins (4)
11:41 – pp – Daniel Sedin (8)
14:30 – Aaron Rome (1)
16:42 – Mason Raymond (2)
Antti Niemi 31 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 28 saves / 31 shots
May 20 Vancouver Canucks 3–4 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period 03:56 – pp – Patrick Marleau (6)
08:22 – pp – Ryane Clowe (5)
17:25 – Patrick Marleau (7)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Alexandre Burrows (5) – 01:09
Dan Hamhuis (1) – pp – 13:39
Kevin Bieksa (4) – pp – 16:04 		Third period 06:46 – pp – Dan Boyle (3)
Roberto Luongo 34 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 27 saves / 30 shots
May 22 Vancouver Canucks 4–2 San Jose Sharks HP Pavilion Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Ryan Kesler (6) – pp – 09:16
Sami Salo (2) – pp – 10:55
Sami Salo (3) – pp – 11:11 		Second period No scoring
Alexandre Burrows (6) – 05:43 Third period 07:02 – Andrew Desjardins (1)
15:55 – Ryane Clowe (6)
Roberto Luongo 33 saves / 35 shots Goalie stats Antti Niemi 9 saves / 13 shots
May 24 San Jose Sharks 2–3 2OT Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 08:02 – Alexandre Burrows (7)
Patrick Marleau (8) – pp – 09:57 Second period No scoring
Devin Setoguchi (7) – 00:24 Third period 19:46 – Ryan Kesler (7)
No scoring Second overtime period 10:18 – Kevin Bieksa (5)
Antti Niemi 31 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 54 saves / 56 shots
Vancouver won series 4–1


Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

As the Presidents' Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks earned home ice advantage over the Boston Bruins in the Finals. This was the first playoff series between Vancouver and Boston. Vancouver and Boston met only once in the 2010–11 regular season, on February 26. Boston won that game by a score of 3–1. This was Vancouver's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals; in both of their previous appearances, they lost to a team from New York. In 1982, they were swept by the Islanders. In 1994, they lost to the Rangers in seven games. This was Boston's first appearance in the Finals since their five-game loss to the Edmonton Oilers in 1990. Boston last won the Stanley Cup in 1972, when they defeated the New York Rangers in six games.

In a back-and-forth series, the Bruins triumphed in seven games. This series was marked by home team dominance, as the Canucks and Bruins each won their first three games at home. All of Vancouver's wins were close affairs at Rogers Arena: two 1–0 wins in games one and five, and a 3–2 overtime victory in game two. In Boston at the TD Garden, the Bruins buried the Canucks in an avalanche of goals, winning games three, four and six by scores of 8–1, 4–0 and 5–2, respectively. In the seventh and deciding game, the Bruins defeated the Canucks 4–0 at Rogers Arena.


June 1 Boston Bruins 0–1 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 19:41 – Raffi Torres (3)
Tim Thomas 33 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 36 saves / 36 shots
June 4 Boston Bruins 2–3 OT Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 12:12 – pp – Alexandre Burrows (8)
Milan Lucic (4) – 09:00
Mark Recchi (3) – pp – 11:35 		Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 09:37 – Daniel Sedin (9)
No scoring First overtime period 00:11 – Alexandre Burrows (9)
Tim Thomas 30 saves / 33 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 28 saves / 30 shots
June 6 Vancouver Canucks 1–8 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 00:11 – Andrew Ference (3)
04:22 – pp – Mark Recchi (4)
11:30 – sh – Brad Marchand (7)
15:47 – David Krejci (11)
Jannik Hansen (3) – 13:53 Third period 11:38 – sh – Daniel Paille (3)
17:39 – Mark Recchi (5)
18:06 – Chris Kelly (5)
19:29 – pp – Michael Ryder (6)
Roberto Luongo 30 saves / 38 shots Goalie stats Tim Thomas 40 saves / 41 shots
June 8 Vancouver Canucks 0–4 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 11:59 – Rich Peverley (3)
No scoring Second period 11:11 – Michael Ryder (7)
13:29 – Brad Marchand (8)
No scoring Third period 03:39 – Rich Peverley (4)
Roberto Luongo 16 saves / 20 shots
Cory Schneider 9 saves / 9 shots 		Goalie stats Tim Thomas 38 saves / 38 shots
June 10 Boston Bruins 0–1 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 04:35 – Maxim Lapierre (2)
Tim Thomas 24 saves / 25 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 31 saves / 31 shots
June 13 Vancouver Canucks 2–5 Boston Bruins TD Garden Recap  
No scoring First period 05:31 – Brad Marchand (9)
06:06 – Milan Lucic (5)
08:35 – pp – Andrew Ference (4)
09:45 – Michael Ryder (8)
No scoring Second period No scoring
Henrik Sedin (3) – pp – 00:22
Maxim Lapierre (3) – 17:34 		Third period 06:59 – pp – David Krejci (12)
Roberto Luongo 5 saves / 8 shots
Cory Schneider 30 saves / 32 shots 		Goalie stats Tim Thomas 36 saves / 38 shots
June 15 Boston Bruins 4–0 Vancouver Canucks Rogers Arena Recap  
Patrice Bergeron (5) – 14:37 First period No scoring
Brad Marchand (10) – 12:13
Patrice Bergeron (6) – sh – 17:35 		Second period No scoring
Brad Marchand (11) – en – 17:16 Third period No scoring
Tim Thomas 37 saves / 37 shots Goalie stats Roberto Luongo 17 saves / 20 shots
Boston won series 4–3


Player statistics

Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points. If the list exceeds ten skaters because of a tie in points, goals take precedence, and all the tied skaters are shown.[28]

Player Team GP G A Pts +/–
David Krejci Boston Bruins 25 12 11 23 +8
Henrik Sedin Vancouver Canucks 25 3 19 22 –11
Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning 18 10 10 20 –8
Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks 25 9 11 20 –9
Patrice Bergeron Boston Bruins 23 6 14 20 +15
Brad Marchand Boston Bruins 25 11 8 19 +12
Ryan Kesler Vancouver Canucks 25 7 12 19 0
Vincent Lecavalier Tampa Bay Lightning 18 6 13 19 +6
Alexandre Burrows Vancouver Canucks 25 9 8 17 0
Nathan Horton Boston Bruins 21 8 9 17 +11
Michael Ryder Boston Bruins 25 8 9 17 +8

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus

Goaltending

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[29]

Player Team GP W L SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
Tim Thomas Boston Bruins 25 16 9 849 51 1.98 .940 4 1,541:53
Carey Price Montreal Canadiens 7 3 4 242 16 2.11 .934 1 455:29
Corey Crawford Chicago Blackhawks 7 3 4 218 16 2.21 .927 1 435:12
Michal Neuvirth Washington Capitals 9 4 5 261 23 2.34 .912 1 589:56
Jimmy Howard Detroit Red Wings 11 7 4 364 28 2.50 .923 0 673:22

GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds)

References

  1. ^ NHL Announces 2010–11 Regular Season Schedule, nhl.com, June 22, 2010.
  2. ^ "2011 Stanley Cup Final Schedule". NHL.com. National Hockey League. May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  3. ^ Beacham, Greg (April 10, 2011). "California's 3 NHL teams all headed to playoffs". Yahoo! Canada Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  4. ^ Morris, Jim (April 10, 2011). "Canucks look to re-write playoff history". Yahoo! Sports. Canadian Press. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  5. ^ "No love: Rangers beat Capitals by a bagel in D.C." CBSSports.com. February 25, 2011.
  6. ^ "Caps, Rangers showdown will be contrast of styles". NHL.com. April 10, 2011.
  7. ^ "YOUR CALL: WHAT IS THE DEFINING BRUINS-CANADIENS MOMENT?". March 24, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  8. ^ Paul, Mark (April 12, 2011). "Most frequent NHL playoff series between same teams". Yahoo! Canada Sports.
  9. ^ "2010-11 Boston Bruins Schedule and Results". hockey-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  10. ^ "Bruins shoot, fight way to win over rival Montreal". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. February 9, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  11. ^ "Canadiens beat Bruins, extend streak to 5". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. March 8, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  12. ^ "Pacioretty on-ice hit to be investigated by police". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. March 10, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  13. ^ Roarke, Shawn. "Bruins beat Habs 4-3 in OT to win Game 7". NHL.com. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  14. ^ Fitz-Morris, James (April 10, 2011). "How Canadian: NHL trumps debate date". CBC. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  15. ^ "Rush, Lady Gaga to Play Concerts in Montreal Between Bruins-Canadiens Playoff Games". nesn.com. April 11, 2011.
  16. ^ "Home ice may be dividing line between Pens, Bolts". NHL.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  17. ^ "Hawks, Canucks ready for round three of grudge match". NHL.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  18. ^ "Ben Smith scores in OT as Blackhawks force Game 7". ESPN. Associated Press. April 24, 2011.
  19. ^ "Sharks, Kings set for California grudge match". NHL.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  20. ^ "'Yotes out for revenge, first series win against Wings". NHL.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  21. ^ "High-scoring Ducks challenge shutdown Preds". NHL.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  22. ^ Manasso, John (April 24, 2011). "Preds reach second round for first time". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  23. ^ Roarke, Shawn P. (May 7, 2011). "Bruins make amends, finish sweep of Flyers". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  24. ^ Gelston, Dan (May 7, 2011). "Flyers fall flat in postseason, swept in 2nd round". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  25. ^ Rucker, Beth (May 9, 2011). "Canucks beat Predators to advance to West finals". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  26. ^ Hedger, Brian (May 11, 2011). "Focus doesn't change for Red Wings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  27. ^ "San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks Game Recap - 05/24/2011". Nhl.com. May 25, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  28. ^ "2010–2011 – Playoffs – All Skaters – Summary –". NHL.com. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  29. ^ "2010–2011 – Playoffs – Goalie – Summary – Goals against average". NHL.com. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
Preceded by Stanley Cup playoffs
2011 		Succeeded by
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