2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, March–April
The Cardinals rose to first place in the standings despite major problems in the bullpen. Closer Ryan Franklin blew four of his first five save opportunities and the Cardinals lost all four of those games. Franklin never got another save opportunity after blowing a save against the Dodgers on April 17, and finished the month with a 10.12 ERA. Mitchell Boggs got the call as closer and recorded three saves before blowing another save (leading to another Cardinals blown-save loss) against Houston on April 26. Left-handed reliever Trever Miller was hit for an .899 OPS by opposition batters in April.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
Third baseman David Freese suffered a broken bone in his left hand on May 1 from being hit by a pitch. Freese did not return until the end of June.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The Cardinals continued to search for an effective closer in May. Rookie Eduardo Sanchez filled the role for a while in early May, then Fernando Salas took the job and recorded seven saves in seven chances in the second half of the month.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
Jaime García flirted with history on May 6, pitching 71⁄3 innings of perfect baseball against the Milwaukee Brewers at home, bidding for the first perfect game in Cardinals' history, and the first no-hitter since Bud Smith on September 3, 2001. He ended with a 2-hit, complete-game shutout (his 2nd of 2011), after losing his perfect bid with a walk and a hit in the 8th inning. He later gave up a double in the 9th, the only runner to reach second base. He walked one and struck out eight, and a double-play in the eighth helped preserve his shutout, the third of his career.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The Cardinals were a strong 17–12 in May and finished the month 21⁄2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central despite numerous injuries to key players. Albert Pujols struggled through a most uncharacteristic slump at the start of the season, going a career-worst 105 at-bats without a home run and finishing May with an unusually low .755 OPS for the first two months. Tony La Russa, suffering from a severe case of shingles, missed six games, with bench coach Joe Pettini serving as acting manager.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Albert Pujols broke out of his season-long slump in style, hitting five home runs in the week that ended June 5 and winning NL Player of the Week honors.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Tony La Russa managed his 5,000th major league game (2,676–2,320–4   0.536) on June 10, but the milestone was marred by a shutout loss at Milwaukee. He joins Connie Mack as the only manager or coach in American sports history to reach 5,000 games.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
On June 19, Albert Pujols hurt his wrist when an opposing player ran into him when Pujols was taking an errant throw from second baseman Peter Kozma. A subsequent MRI on June 20, showed a small fracture in the left wrist-forearm. Pujols estimated time on the DL was expected to be from four to six weeks, and after Wainwright and Pujols both going down and Holliday missing significant time, it became obvious that 2011 was going to be a rough year, maybe even a lost cause. Pujols had played in all 73 games before the injury.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Pujols's injury was 14th time the Cardinals used the disabled list that season for 12 different players, already more than they used all of the previous year. He joined Wainwright, Freese, Nick Punto, Allen Craig, Gerald Laird, Bryan Augenstein and Eduardo Sanchez on the DL.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Left-handed reliever Raúl Valdés was promoted from AAA Memphis on June 23. Valdes became the third lefty in the struggling bullpen, joining struggling southpaws Trever Miller and Brian Tallet in the bullpen. Disabled players David Freese (3b) and Nick Punto (Inf. ), both out for over a month, were activated on June 27, providing relief for the injury-riddled team. Freese last played on May 1, and Punto on May 17. Both players made instant impacts in their first game returning when they helped beat the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards in their first interleague game there.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Late in June the Cardinals cleared two ineffective relief pitchers from the roster. Miguel Batista, who had given up 27 hits and 19 walks in only 29 innings, was let go on June 22. Former closer Ryan Franklin was given his unconditional release on June 29. He was 1–4 with an 8.46 ERA. Opponents battered him for a .367 average, plus 44 hits and nine home runs over 21 games, in only 272⁄3 innings. He walked 7 and struck out 17, with a 1.84 WHIP Right-handed pitcher Brandon Dickson's contract was called up to fill the roster spot vacated by Franklin's release.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
After 81 games on June 29, the half-way point of the season, the team was 43–38 (.531) only 1 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers at 44–37 (.543). The Cardinals played very poorly for much of June, going 3–12 from June 10 to 26. At some time around the end of June, manager Tony La Russa decided to retire at the end of the season. He kept that decision secret from the team.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
After an initial estimate of Albert Pujols out for 4-to-6 weeks projecting an August 1 return, a reevaluation follow-up from a CT scan on July 1 showed faster recovery than originally thought, raising the possibility of a return by July 15, right after the All-Star break. However, Pujols surprised everyone by recovering very rapidly, and he was activated on July 5, after the minimum 15-days on the DL. Lefty reliever Brian Tallet was placed on the DL to make room for Pujols.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
The team made a major trade on July 27, a four-for-four swap, dealing disgruntled Colby Rasmus (hitting only .246), left-handed relievers Trever Miller and Brian Tallet, and starter P. J. Walters to the Toronto Blue Jays. In return, the team received right-hand starter Edwin Jackson, left-hand specialist Marc Rzepczynski, right-hand reliever Octavio Dotel, and outfielder Corey Patterson. The team will also receive either three players to be named later, or cash. Jackson was traded earlier the day from the Chicago White Sox to the Blue Jays.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
Rasmus had previously asked to be traded away from the Cardinals, and at the time of the trade he was mired in a severe slump that saw him hitting .194 since May 12. Jon Jay, who had been getting more playing time as Rasmus struggled, became the everyday center fielder. Kyle McClellan, promoted to the starting rotation to fill the gap caused by the loss of Adam Wainwright, returned to the bullpen.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
Pujols got his 2,000th career hit on July 29, at Busch Stadium against the Cubs in the eighth inning with an RBI double. He became the fifth Cardinal to get to 2,000 hits, joining Stan Musial (3,630), Lou Brock (2,713), Rogers Hornsby (2,110), and Enos Slaughter (2,064). He got it in his 1,650th game, the 12th quickest. Musial got his in 1,507 games.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
The team made another trade on July 31, just before the non-waiver deadline, acquiring shortstop Rafael Furcal from the Los Angeles Dodgers in return for an AA-outfielder Alex Castellanos. Furcal displaced offseason acquisition Ryan Theriot, who committed 17 errors at shortstop for the Cardinals in 2011.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
On Aug 11 the Cardinals signed free agent lefty specialist pitcher Arthur Rhodes, previously released by the Texas Rangers. The Rhodes acquisition completed a radical in-season makeover of the Cardinal bullpen. The only Cardinal relievers in the bullpen on Opening Day who were still on the team at the end of the season were Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte. Departures included Miguel Batista and Ryan Franklin (released), Bryan Augenstein (disabled and later sent to the minors) and lefty specialists Trever Miller and Brian Tallet (traded to Toronto in the Rasmus trade). Additions over the course of the season included Rhodes, Marc Rzepcynski and Octavio Dotel (acquired from Toronto in the Rasmus trade), Kyle McClellan (sent back to the bullpen after the Cardinals traded for Edwin Jackson), and Lance Lynn and Fernando Salas (called up from the minor leagues).


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
At the beginning of the month the Cardinals were 21⁄2 games behind the Brewers in the standings. However, they lost two of three to Milwaukee on the road Aug. 1–3, then did the same at home on Aug. 9–11, giving the Brewers a four-game lead in the NL Central. The team continued to stumble as the Brewers continued to win. Newly acquired shortstop Furcal hit only .240 for the month. The Cardinals went 2–4 on a six-game road trip to Pittsburgh and Chicago, then came home and were swept in three games by a bad Dodger team.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
After close of business on August 24, the day the Dodgers completed their sweep, St. Louis had fallen ten games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central standings and 101⁄2 games behind the Atlanta Braves (and in third place) in the NL Wild Card standings. Manager Tony La Russa said on the struggles: "I guarantee that the team you have seen the past few weeks is not the team we have, and I believe you will start to see our team tomorrow."


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
Chris Carpenter and other veterans called for a closed, player-only team meeting, which was held the day after the Dodgers series ended. St. Louis' odds of making the playoffs stood at 1.3%. There were rumors, later confirmed by owner Bill DeWitt, that with the Cardinals seemingly out of playoff contention, they had discussed trading Lance Berkman to the Texas Rangers.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
The sweep by Los Angeles dropped the Cardinals to 67–63. They ended the month on a positive note, taking three of four from the Pirates and sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee Aug 30 – September 1, improving their chances of making the playoffs to 4.3%.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals set a new  record of grounding into their 167th (and later, 168th) double-play on September 26, breaking the record set by the 1958 St. Louis Cardinals. They finished the season with 169, five short of the all-time MLB record set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
After dropping two of three to the Reds the Cardinals played their last series of the season against Milwaukee September 5–7. St. Louis took two out of three and thus won five of its last six games against the Brewers, but Milwaukee still held a lead of 81⁄2 games. The Cardinals got as close as 41⁄2 games behind the Brewers later in September but Milwaukee played too well to be caught, clinching the Central Division title on September 23.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The same was not true of the wild-card leading Atlanta Braves. 101⁄2 games ahead of the Cardinals on August 24, Atlanta went only 6–7 over its next 13 games before coming to St. Louis on September 9 to play a three-game series that would prove to be critical. In the first game, Atlanta led 3–1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, but a Schumaker single and walks to Furcal and Theriot set up a two-run, two-out Albert Pujols single to tie the game.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals won on a sacrifice fly by Nick Punto in the bottom of the 10th. On September 10 St. Louis won by the same 4–3 score when Michael Bourn flied out to right with the tying run on third. On the 11th Yadier Molina hit a three-run double and the Cardinals won 6–3 to complete the sweep. The sweep cut the gap in the wild-card race to 41⁄2 games, but St. Louis had only 16 games left to play and its playoff chances were still only 7.7%.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals followed up their sweep of Atlanta by going on the road to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and taking two of three from the Pirates and three of four from the NL-leading (and eventually 102-game-winner) Phillies. On the 14th Yadier Molina hit a two-run double and the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 3–2 behind 6.2 strong innings from Edwin Jackson.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
On the 16th an error by right fielder Corey Patterson allowed the Phillies to tie the game 2–2 in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cardinals scored on RBI hits from rookie Adron Chambers and Tyler Greene in the 11th and hung on to win 4–2. On the 19th the Cardinals escaped with a 4–3 victory over the Phillies when Octavio Dotel got Hunter Pence to ground out in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on base.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Braves went 3–4 over this same stretch of games, losing to the Marlins on September 19 when Omar Infante hit a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. The gap in the wild-card standings had decreased to 2.5 games but with only nine games left the Cardinals' playoff chances were still only 17.7%.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals then won two of three at home against the Mets, but suffered a bitterly disappointing loss in the third game of that series, when Rafael Furcal let a ball roll through his legs in the top of the 9th, triggering a six-run Met rally that won the game 8–6. Furcal was so upset by his error that he was talking about retirement before having a personal meeting with LaRussa. The Braves led by two games with six games left and the Cardinals' playoff chances were 24.4%.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals won two of three against the Cubs, winning 2–1 on September 24 via a bases-loaded walk and wild pitch by Carlos Mármol and recent callup Adron Chambers sprinted home with the winning run. while the Braves lost two of three to the Nationals. Atlanta had a one-game lead with three games left.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The last series of the year for the Cardinals was against the terrible Houston Astros, and Atlanta's was against the powerful Philadelphia Phillies. And since the Redbirds were only one game out of the wild card, the last series was very key. The race between the Cards and Braves and also between Boston and Tampa Bay in the American League began stirring up attention around the country.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
The Cardinals lost to the Astros (who finished the year at 56–106) on the 26th on a walk-off squeeze bunt by Angel Sanchez, but Atlanta lost to the Phillies. On the 27th St. Louis overcame a bad start by Jake Westbrook and a 5–0 deficit, scoring five in the fourth and four more in the seventh and winning 13–6. The winning runs came via a two-run triple from Ryan Theriot. Atlanta lost to Philadelphia again, and with one game left in the season the Cardinals and Braves were tied for the wild card.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
In the season finale, the Cardinals had little trouble with the Astros, winning 8–0 behind a complete game two-hit shutout from Carpenter. The game ended about 9:25 PM CST. This was the first of two key clinchers Carpenter pitched in late 2011. The Braves started later. With their final regular-season game freshly on the books, Cardinals players and fans anxiously watched the still-ongoing Braves-Phillies match in Atlanta that was now in extra innings. They were two outs away from forcing a tie-breaker game, but a Chase Utley sacrifice fly tied the game 3–3 in the top of the ninth.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
In the bottom of the 12th, the Braves stranded the winning run on third base. Finally, in the top of the 13th Hunter Pence hit an RBI infield single, and in the bottom of the inning Freddie Freeman of the Braves hit into a double play to lose the ballgame and eliminate Atlanta.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
By edging Atlanta to clinch the  Wild Card on the final day of the regular season, the 2011 Cardinals completed the largest comeback in history after 130 games, (and collapses in Atlanta's point of view). They went 23–9 over their final 32 games to erase a 10.5 game deficit. They went 18–8 in the month of September while the Braves went 9–18 for September to open the door.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
Since the Braves play in a different division, the two teams played fewer games against each other, also lowering the odds that the Cardinals had to catch up with the Braves in the Wild Card race. St. Louis finished 90–72 and advanced to the postseason to face the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, heavily favored to move on.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: The Comeback Month
B. J. Rains ranked the Cardinals' Top 11 games of 2011, with the winner the September 24, 2–1 ninth-inning comeback win against the Cubs.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason
The team qualified for the Wild Card on the final day of the regular season and played the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time in postseason, in the NL Division Series best of five, starting the first two games at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, NLDS
Game 1 of the NLDS ended an 11–6 Philadelphia victory. After Roy Halladay struggled in the first, allowing a three-run homer to Lance Berkman, he settled down, at one point retiring twenty-one Cardinal hitters in a row. After Game 1, Chris Carpenter, starting on three-day's rest for the first time in his career, allowed the Phillies to take a quick 4–0 lead in Game 2. And with Cliff Lee on the mound for the Phils, the game seemed out of reach.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, NLDS
"You can count on one finger the number of times you'll come back from four runs down against Cliff Lee", Lance Berkman said. That's exactly what the Cardinals did, and took a 5–4 lead after an RBI single by Albert Pujols. The series was tied at one game apiece. "That win was huge for us", Tony La Russa said. "Realistically, us winning three in a row was not really possible."


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, NLDS
The famous Rally Squirrel (aka, 'Busch Squirrel'), made his first appearance in Game 3 on October 4, and then again appeared in Game 4 on October 5, running across Home Plate at Busch Stadium in front of Skip Schumaker who was batting. The pitch was called a ball, and Roy Oswalt protested that it should not have counted. Nothing he did changed the umpire's mind though. Schumaker later flew out to left. The team was ahead at the time, 3–2, and held on for the 5–3 victory. The Rally Squirrel was instantly adopted by the fans as the postseason mascot, and thousands of rally squirrel T-shirts were sold. His Twitter account started, and by October 6 it had over 11,000 followers; by October 20, it had over 27,500 .


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, NLDS
The October 7, Game 5 winner-take-all in the NLDS pitted Cardinals' ace Chris Carpenter vs. Roy Halladay, his best friend off-the-field for the Phillies, at Citizens Bank Park. Carpenter threw an outstanding 3-hit shutout over Halladay and the Phillies to win the NLDS, 1–0. The last out was made by St. Louisian Ryan Howard, who chopped a grounder to Nick Punto at second. Punto saw Howard on the ground by home plate, having torn his achilles. He then lobbed the ball to Albert Pujols, who caught it to send the Cardinals to the NLCS for the first time since 2006.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, NLCS
The Milwaukee Brewers took the first game of the NLCS 9–6, but the Cardinals rebounded to take the next two games. The teams split the next two, and on Sunday, October 16, the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, for their 18th NL Pennant, and became the only team to play in three of the last ten World Series. The final out was recorded when Jason Motte struck out the Brewers' Mark Kotsay on high heat. David Freese was named NLCS MVP.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
Allen Craig was the hero in Game 1 of the World Series, singling off Alexi Ogando to break a 2–2 tie. The Cards managed to win. The next day, Craig was almost the hero again when he singled off Ogando for the second straight night. The Rangers came back to win, 2–1, though, for Jason Motte's only blown save of the postseason. The next game, Albert Pujols went 5-for-6 with three home runs to put him in company with Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit three homers in a World Series game. Pujols also set a record with 14 total bases, hits in four consecutive innings, and tied a Series record with five hits, total bases, RBIs, and runs scored in one game.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
But after the Rangers won the next two games, the Cardinals fell behind in the Series 3–2. The Cardinals, facing the Texas Rangers in the World Series, pulled-off one of the greatest comeback game wins in World Series history, with an amazing Game 6, winning 10–9 in 11 innings after twice being one strike away from elimination. David Freese hit a two-out, two-strike, ninth-inning triple, to tie the game after trailing 7–5 in the ninth inning. Berkman followed with an RBI single in the 10th to tie the game again.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
Later, with the score tied 9–9, Freese hit a lead-off walk-off home run to dead centerfield in the 11th, off Mark Lowe at 11:39 pm CDT. Lance Berkman had previously tied the game in the 10th with a single with 2 outs and 2 strikes, scoring Jon Jay. The win meant that the World Series would go to a seventh game for the first time since 2002. Of the last 13 Major League teams that won Game 6 at home to force a Game 7 in the postseason, 12 went on to win Game 7. The Rangers led 4 different times in the game, including with two outs and two strikes in both the ninth and the 10th, but the Cardinals refused to die.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
Freese's game-winning home run was only the fourth in World Series Game 6 history (1975-Bos., 1991-Min., 1993-Tor).


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
The Cardinals set two records in their Game 6 win: the first team to come back twice from deficits in both the 9th and 10th innings, and the first team to score in the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th innings.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
On October 28, the Cardinals finished off their amazing, end-of-season run,  starting after the Aug 24 game when they were 101⁄2 games behind for the NL Central Division lead. They defeated the Texas Rangers 4 games to 3, with a 6–2 win in Game 7 of the World Series at their Busch Stadium home in front of 47,399 fans. It was the 36th time a team won the World Series in a Game 7 (or Game 8). The final out was made when David Murphy flew out to left field to give the Cardinals their eleventh world championship.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
David Freese, a graduate of Lafayette High School in St. Louis, won the MVP award for both the NLCS, and then for the World Series, as well as the Babe Ruth Award. He knocked in a record 21 RBIs in his post-season. Chris Carpenter set a franchise record for most wins (four) in a single postseason. Carpenter, 9–2 overall in his Cardinals postseason career, ran his home postseason mark to 7–0 with a 2.15 ERA. Tony La Russa became only the ninth manager in major-league history to win at least three World Series.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series
On October 31, three days after winning the World Series, manager Tony La Russa announced his retirement. He finished his managerial career after 33 seasons, third in all-time managerial wins and second all-time in post season wins.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, November
November 3 marked the first time in the playing history of Albert Pujols that he would become a free agent. He officially became a free agent as of 12:01 Eastern.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, November
On November 13, the Cardinals announced former Cardinals' catcher Mike Matheny as their new manager with a news conference on November 14.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, November
Although Dave Duncan did not officially retire, he took an extended leave of absence to tend to his ailing wife and his assistant Derek Lilliquist was nominated as his substitute.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, November
On November 16, MLB announced that La Russa came in third in voting for NL Manager of the Year. Kirk Gibson (of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in his first season won, and Ron Roenicke (of the Milwaukee Brewers) came in second.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, November
Berkman's resurgence led him to a seventh-place MVP finish, and the National League Comeback Player of the Year award.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, After the World Series, December
On December 16, 2011, the Cardinals won the Organization of the Year award from Baseball America for the first time. Baseball America has given this award since 1982.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log
The Cardinals, and all 30 teams, had their schedules released by Major League Baseball on September 14, 2010. The Cardinals' opening is at home against the San Diego Padres on March 31.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Composite line score
2011 World Series (4–3): St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.) over Texas Rangers (A.L.)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Ratings
The overall average national Nielsen rating for the seven games was 10.0, with Fox's 14.7 rating for Game 7 being the network's highest for a World Series telecast since Game 4 of the 2004 World Series.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Ratings
Game 6 on Oct 27, averaged 21.1 million viewers with a 12.7 rating and a 21 share. Through six games, the 2011 World Series on FOX is averaging a 9.3/15 in household rating/share, with 15.3 million viewers, +11% in rating over last year (8.4/14, 14.3 million) and 2008 (8.4/14, 13.6 million). Both were five game series.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Ratings
The current 9.3/15 average for the 2011 World Series would rank as the sixth highest-rated show (live+same day) in primetime, a ranking that was likely to improve with the inclusion of a rare Game 7. Game 6 opened with an 8.5 at 8:00 PM EDT and grew steadily throughout the night averaging 11.7 from 9:00–9:30 PM EDT; 12.9 from 10:00–10:30 PM EDT; and 13.2 from 11:00–11–30 PM EDT. The broadcast peaked with a 15.0 HH rating and 25.2 million viewers from midnight-12:30 AM EDT.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Ratings
From 8:00 to 11:00 PM EDT, Game 6 averaged an 11.8 HH rating, with 19.4 million viewers. From 11:00 PM EDT to its conclusion, the game averaged a 14.3 HH rating, with 23.9 million viewers, +21% in rating and +23% in viewership compared to Primetime. Post mid-night, the game averaged a 14.8 rating and 24.9 million viewers, +25% in rating and +28% in average audience.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log, NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL Texas Rangers, Ratings
St. Louis led all local markets for Game 6 with a 49.4/70, peaking at a 57.0/75 from 10:30–11:00 PM EDT, with the final quarter-hour averaging a 53.1/82. Dallas averaged a World Series-high 47.1/67, while peaking at 55.7/81 from 11:15–11:30 PM EDT.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Record vs. opponents
Bold indicates that the Cardinals have finished their season schedule with an opponent.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
Cardinals batters struck out on 978 occasions in 2011, making them the only National League team in the 2010s to strike out fewer than 1,000 times in a season.


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G=Games played; AB=At bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; HR=Home runs; RBI=Runs batted in; BB=Walks; SO=Strikeouts; GIDP=Grounded into double play; Avg.=Batting average; OBP=On-base percentage; SLG=Slugging percentage


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
* Currently not on active roster † Suspended, on 15-day disabled or rehab list ^ Traded away from Cardinals


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
Note: GS=Games Started; IP=Innings Pitched; W=Wins; L=Loss; ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=(Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched; HBP=Hit by Pitch; BF=Batters faced; O-AVG=Opponent Batting Ave.; O-SLG=Opponent Slugging Ave.; R support avg=Average Runs support from his team per Games Started


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
* not on active roster † on 15-day disabled list †† on 60-day disabled list


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Note: IP=Innings Pitched; ERA=Earned Run Average; WHIP=(Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
"Bullpen Briefs" (through Sep 28, no relievers needed that day)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
28–30, 3.61 ERA, 463.1 IP, 416 H, 210 R, 186 ER, 49 HR 170 BB, 421 SO, 1.26 WHIP Saves/Opp: 47/73 (64.4%)   1st Batter / Retired: 329/462 (71.2%) Holds: 84                         Inherited Runners/Scored: 68/231 (29.4%)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Games lost by bullpen: 30  Salas (6),  Franklin (4),  Dotel (3),  Rzepczynski (3),  Boggs (3),  Motte (2),  Batista (2),  Tallet (1), Augenstein (1),  Sánchez (1),  Miller (1),  Valdés (1),  Rhodes (1),  McClellan (1)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Blown Saves by bullpen: 24   Salas (6),  Motte (4),  Franklin (4),  Boggs (3),  Miller (2),  Sánchez (2),  McClellan (1),  Batista (1),  Rzepczynski (1)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Scoring more than 3 runs  70–29        Scoring 3 runs             13–14   Scoring fewer than 3 runs   7–29


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Leading after 7 innings   68–9        Tied after 7 innings   12–14   Trailing after 7 innings    10–49


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Leading after 8 innings   77–7        Tied after 8 innings    9–13  Trailing after 8 innings     4–52


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
In errorless games       55–27  In error-made games   35–45  Extra innings             8–13  Shutouts                   9–8


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Out-hit opponents            58–15  Same hits as opponents  14–4  Out-hit by opponents       18–53


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Runs via HR            262 (34.4% of total)  Opp. Runs via HR    229 (33.1% of total)


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
Mon. 6–9 Tue. 16–8 Wed. 11–15 Thu. 14–6 Fri.    14–11 Sat. 13–13 Sun. 16–10


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals record when
NL Central 25–15  19–20    44–35 NL East     12–6     10–7      22–13 NL West     6–11    10–6      16–17 AL East      0–3       4–2         4–5 AL Central  2–1       2–1         4–2


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes, 2011)
2011   (100=Neutral Park, > 100 Ballpark favors, < 100 Ballpark inhibits)  81 HOME G; Cardinals:  2,646 AB;  Opponents: 2,801 AB  81 AWAY G: Cardinals:  2,886 AB;  Opponents: 2,807 AB


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes, 2011)
BA 92   R 90  H 88  2B 85  3B 66  HR 81  BB 106  SO 97  E 89  E-inf. 83  LHB-BA 94  LHB-HR 93  RHB-BA 91  RHB-HR 74


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes, 2011)
BA 96  R 92  H 94  2B 92  3B 76  HR 77  BB 107  SO 98  E 104  E-inf. 103  LHB-BA 97  LHB-HR 86  RHB-BA 95  RHB-HR 73


2011 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes, 2011)
BA-Home      .268    BA-Road     .265    Opp.-Busch  .247    Opp.-at their HOME  .270


2011 St. Louis Rams season
The 2011 season was the St. Louis Rams' 74th in the National Football League, their 17th in St. Louis, and their third and final season under head coach Steve Spagnuolo. They finished with a 2–14 record – a failure to improve on their 7–9 record from 2010 – and the day after the season finale, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney were fired from the team.


2011 St. Louis Rams season
The Rams' offense was among the worst in the league in 2011. They scored only 193 points (12.1 points per game), last in the league, and 11th-fewest all-time for a 16-game season. Their −214-point differential was last in the league.


2011 St. Louis Rams season
Football Outsiders ranked St. Louis the worst team in the league, per play, in 2011. The 2012 Football Outsiders Almanac, however, noted that the Rams went from the league's easiest schedule in 2010 to the league's hardest schedule in 2011.


2011 St. Louis Rams season
With their 2–14 record, the Rams capped a stretch from 2007 to 2011 in which they went 15–65, setting a new mark for the worst five-season span in NFL history. This mark has since been matched by the Cleveland Browns of 2013 to 2017. To date, this is the last season with the Rams getting, at most, two victories. As of 2020, the 2011 Rams are the most recent team to score less than 200 points the entire season.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Coaching changes
On January 18, the Rams hired former Denver Broncos' head coach Josh McDaniels as the team's new offensive coordinator, replacing Pat Shurmur, who became the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns five days earlier (January 13).


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Preseason, Schedule
The Rams' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Washington Redskins
With the loss, the Rams went into their bye week at 0–4.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: at Green Bay Packers
Coming off of their bye week in week 5, the Rams traveled to Lambeau Field to take on the undefeated Packers. The loss dropped the team to 0–5.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. New Orleans Saints
This home game for the team also had a celebration of the St. Louis Cardinals showing off the World Series trophy. The Rams would then go on to win this game and improve to 1–6.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Arizona Cardinals
The game featured the Rams' scoring the four points in the third quarter as the got two safeties on consecutive drives. This was first time in NFL history that a team had recorded four points in a quarter.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Arizona Cardinals
With the loss, the Rams fell to 1–7 and last place in the NFC West.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With the loss, the Rams dropped to 2–9 securing them their 5th straight losing season.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at Seattle Seahawks
With the loss, the Rams fell to 2–11 and were swept by the Seahawks for the first time since 2009.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Pittsburgh Steelers
This game became the Steelers' 2nd shutout win of the season as the Rams dropped to 2–13.


2011 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers
With the loss, the Rams finished the season at 2–14 tied with the Colts for the league's worst record.


2011 St. Louis tornado
On April 22, 2011, a violent EF4 tornado with winds exceeding 165 mph, struck the St. Louis metropolitan area. The tornado, which was the strongest to hit St. Louis County or City since January 1967, moved through many suburbs and neighborhoods, damaging and destroying many homes and businesses. The worst damage was in the Bridgeton area, where a few homes were completely leveled. In its 22-mile  track across the St. Louis metropolitan area, the tornado damaged thousands of homes, left thousands without power, and caused heavy damage to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, closing it for nearly 24 hours. The tornado crossed into Illinois and tore the roofs off of homes in Granite City before dissipating. The tornado was part of the tornado outbreak sequence of April 19–24, 2011.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
The tornado initially touched down near Creve Coeur Lake around 7:55 p.m. and moved into Maryland Heights where it produced EF3 damage. The tornado continued eastward and reached EF4 intensity in Bridgeton where a number of houses were completely destroyed. Afterwards the tornado traveled parallel to I-70 and struck Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, blowing out numerous windows and peeling away a large section of roof. The tornado then moved into the Berkeley neighborhood where it continued to produce EF2 damage, tearing the roofs from several homes.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
The tornado continued on through several more neighborhoods, causing roof damage to a church and two businesses in Ferguson, one of which completely experienced total roof loss. The storm also produced extensive tree damage and some roof damage to homes as well as partially removing the roof of an elementary school. Damage along this entire section of the storm's path was rated EF1 to low-end EF2. The tornado continued toward the Mississippi River resulting in mostly EF1 damage to trees, however EF2 damage occurred in Dellwood where extensive tree and utility pole damage occurred and three homes lost their roofs. EF2 damage continued as the tornado crossed into Illinois where about a hundred homes were damaged, three of which lost their roofs, and numerous trees were uprooted and snapped.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
The tornado hit Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Missouri's largest, about 8:10 p.m. Three aircraft were on the tarmac with passengers aboard. Numerous passengers and other people were in the airport's terminals.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
Concourse C had a large section of its roof torn off when the tornado struck. Many windows at the airport were blown out, and signs were damaged as well. Vehicles outside were tossed by the tornado, including a van which was partially pushed over the edge of a parking garage. Lambert Airport released surveillance video showing debris swirling inside the airport as people ran for cover. It was reported that an aircraft was moved away from its jetway by the storm, with passengers still on board.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
One plane from Southwest Airlines was damaged when the wind pushed a conveyor belt used for loading baggage into it. American Airlines said that four of its planes were damaged, two of them significantly. One was buffeted by 80 MPH crosswinds while taxiing in from a landing when the tornado hit and the other had possible damage to its landing gear. The tornado was rated an EF2 storm when it struck the airport.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Tornado summary
The airport was closed by the FAA at 8:54 p.m., and reopened at temporarily reduced capacity on April 23. It was expected to be at 70% capacity on April 24.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Other effects
More than 54,000 Ameren customers were left without power after the storm; more than 47,000 in Missouri and about 7,000 in Illinois.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Other effects
By 5:40am on April 24, 21,667 customers were still without power in Missouri and 131 in Illinois.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Other effects
On April 24, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported more than 2,700 buildings were severely damaged in St. Louis County, including 900 in Bridgeton, 450 in Berkeley and 1,170 in Maryland Heights.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Other effects
Another tornado also hit New Melle in St. Charles County, about 30 miles west of the airport.


2011 St. Louis tornado, Other effects
No deaths resulted from the tornado, and injuries were relatively few.


2011 St. Paul Cash Spiel
The 2011 St. Paul Cash Spiel was held from October 13 to 16 at the St. Paul Curling Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, as part of the 2011–12 World Curling Tour. The purses for the men's and women's events were USD$13,500 and USD$7,200, respectively. The event was held in a round robin format.


2011 St. Petersburg Open
The 2011 St. Petersburg Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 17th edition of the St. Petersburg Open, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from October 24 through October 30, 2011.


2011 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Seeds
* Seeds are based on the rankings of October 17, 2011.


2011 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry a special exempt into the singles main draw:


2011 St. Petersburg Open, Finals, Doubles
Colin Fleming /  Ross Hutchins defeated  Michail Elgin /  Alexandre Kudryavtsev 6–3, 6–7(5–7), [10–8]


2011 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles
Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals.


2011 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles
Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins won the tournament, defeating Michail Elgin and Alexandre Kudryavtsev 6–3, 6–7(5–7), [10–8] in the final.


2011 St. Petersburg Open – Singles
Mikhail Kukushkin was the defending champion but lost to Michael Berrer in the first round.


2011 St. Petersburg Open – Singles
Marin Čilić won the tournament beating Janko Tipsarević in the final, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2.


2011 St. Petersburg Open – Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw of the 2011 St. Petersburg Open.


2011 Stafford Borough Council election
Elections to Stafford Borough Council were held on 5 May 2011. All 59 seats on the council were up for election. There were elections held in 26 wards. The Conservative Party retained majority control of the council. Overall turnout was 45.93%, with the lowest turnout (31.1%) in Coton ward and the highest (54.7%) in Chartley.


2011 Stafford Borough Council election, Election result
The total number of seats on the Council after the election was:


2011 Staffordshire Moorlands District Council election
The 2011 Staffordshire Moorlands District Council election is took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2011 Staffordshire Moorlands District Council election, Ward results
The candidates highlighted in bold were elected to each ward.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team
The 2011 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Cardinal were led by former offensive coordinator and new head coach David Shaw, as Jim Harbaugh departed following the 2010 season in order to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and are members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season with 11–2 in overall record, 8–1 in Pac-12  play to finish in a tie with Oregon for first place in the North Division. Due to their head-to-head loss to Oregon, they did not represent the division in the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game. They were invited the Fiesta Bowl, their second consecutive BCS game, where they were defeated by Oklahoma State 38–41 in overtime.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, San Jose State
Known as the "Bill Walsh Legacy Game" (Bill Walsh was a graduate of San Jose State and a two-time head coach at Stanford), this game marked the 65th meeting between Stanford and San Jose State—the most times Stanford has faced a single non-Pac-12 opponent. Entering the game with a record-high #7 preseason ranking (this ties the 1950 team's #7 preseason ranking, the team's highest-ever ranking), the Cardinal achieved their 50th win in the series as 2011 Heisman Trophy runner-up Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third. In all, six Stanford players scored touchdowns, with running back Stepfan Taylor scoring twice on short rushes.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Duke
The Cardinal held a 10–0 lead late in the first half due to an Andrew Luck touchdown pass to Coby Fleener and a 40-yard Jordan Williamson field goal. Duke made a game of it after safety Lee Butler returned a deflected pass 76 yards for a touchdown and the Blue Devils recovered an onside kick on the next play. But Stanford held Duke to a single series, and following a short punt, scored another touchdown before halftime. The second half was all Stanford, as Luck threw two more touchdowns, Jonathan Stewart ran for a 30-yard score, and Tyler Gaffney added a one-yard plunge to rout the Blue Devils.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Arizona
Stepfan Taylor rushed for a career-high 153 yards and Andrew Luck threw for 325 yards as the Cardinal held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half to win 37–10. Arizona quarterback Nick Foles completed his first 17 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown, but after that, he was 7 for 16 and 41 yards as the Cardinal began to break down the passing attack. The victory was costly for the Cardinal, however, as junior linebacker and leading tackler Shayne Skov suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, UCLA
Coming into the game, Stanford trailed UCLA 45–33–3 in a series that dates back to 1925 and both teams had the same 19–19–2 record for games played at Stanford. Stanford's Coby Fleener scored on 18 and 51-yard receptions and Stepfan Taylor added two rushing touchdowns as the Cardinal downed UCLA 45–19. UCLA tight end Joseph Fauria caught two of the Bruin touchdown passes.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Colorado
Andrew Luck threw for 370 yards—the second-most in his college career—and three touchdowns as the Cardinal routed Colorado, 48–7 and improved to 5–0 on the season, Stanford's best start since the 1951 season. Stanford linebacker Max Bergen blocked a Colorado field goal attempt in the first quarter and ran back the ball 75 yards for Stanford's first score. Fullback Ryan Hewitt caught two of Luck's touchdown passes with Griff Whalen catching the other. Three different running backs scored for the Cardinal on one-yard rushes.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Washington State
Andrew Luck threw an interception on his first pass of the game, but recovered to throw four second-half passes—two to tight end Levine Toilolo—as the Cardinal routed the Cougars, 44–14. At the end of the first half, Washington State had closed to within 10–7 on a two-yard run from Carl Winston, but that would end their scoring until a short touchdown dive with 14 seconds left in the game. On the ensuing kickoff of that final Cougar touchdown, Stanford's Ty Montgomery returned the kick 96 yards as time expired to give the Cardinal a 30-point win. Stanford won its 14th consecutive game, setting a school record (breaking the marks set in 1904–1905 and 1939–1940–1941) and extending the nation's longest current winning streak. The team won by its ninth consecutive 25+ point victory margin, the longest such streak in the BCS era since Boise State in 2002.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Washington
Stanford set a single-game school rushing record of 446 yards (breaking the previous record of 439 set against Oregon State in 1981, led by Darrin Nelson's 190 yards) as the Cardinal overpowered the visiting Huskies 65–21. Stepfan Taylor ran for 138 yards and a touchdown, Tyler Gaffney had 117 yards and a touchdown, and Anthony Wilkerson had 93 yards and two touchdowns.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Washington
The Cardinal extended its streak of 15 consecutive wins (longest in school history, and longest current streak in the nation), as well as 10 consecutive wins by more than 25 points (longest streak in college football since the poll era began in 1936). Washington's Chris Polk had two long touchdown runs to highlight Washington's scoring.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at USC
The Cardinal outlasted the Trojans in a triple overtime thriller, winning 56–48, and remaining unbeaten and in the hunt for the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. The Cardinal led 10–6 at halftime, but on the first series of the second half, USC running back Curtis MacNeal broke free for a 61-yard touchdown run to put the Cardinal behind in a game for the first time all season. MacNeal added another score on USC's next series to put Stanford further in the hole.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at USC
But Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck led the Cardinal right back, firing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hewitt and adding a 2-yard rush of his own to put the Cardinal back up by 3 at the end of three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley put USC ahead on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Marqise Lee, which was followed by a Stanford field goal to tie the game at 27 apiece.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at USC
With about 5 minutes remaining, Stanford began what they hoped would be a game-winning last drive, but Luck's pass was intercepted by Nickell Robey and returned for a USC score to put the Trojans on top. But the Cardinal recovered, and on the ensuing drive, Luck led the Cardinal for a tying Stepfan Taylor touchdown rush with 38 seconds left to send the game to overtime. After both teams scored in the first two overtime periods, the Cardinal had the ball first in the third overtime, scoring on a Taylor 5-yard run and converting on the mandatory 2-point conversion.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at USC
On the first play of USC's possession, Barkley completed a 21-yard pass to Lee to put the Trojans on the 4-yard line. On the next play, Barkley handed off to MacNeal. Stanford defensive tackle Terrence Stephens reached up from the ground and stripped the ball, which rolled into the end zone where Stanford linebacker A.J. Tarpley pounced on it to end the game and secure a Stanford victory.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Oregon State
Stanford rushed for 300 yards behind strong performances from all its backs, led by Stepfan Taylor's 95 yards, to hold off the Beavers, 38–13. Andrew Luck threw for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Oregon State's Sean Mannion threw for 252 yards and one touchdown. Luck moved within 6 passing touchdowns of both the Stanford single-season mark of 32 (set by Luck in 2010) and of the Stanford career touchdown mark of 77 held by John Elway.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Oregon
Oregon's LaMichael James rushed for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns as the #6 Ducks defeated the #3 Cardinal 53–30. After falling behind early in the first half, the Cardinal closed to within a touchdown on an Andrew Luck touchdown pass to Griff Whalen shortly before halftime. The Ducks blew the game open in the second half, with two short touchdowns by James and a Boseko Lokombo interception of a Luck pass returned 40 yards for a touchdown. Stanford did not lose at home again until the second game of the 2014 season, when it lost 13-10 to visiting USC, ending the longest home winning streak in the nation at 17.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
In a rain-soaked game, the Cardinal held on to defeat the Bears 31–28. The Cardinal scored on the third play from scrimmage on a reverse to Ty Montgomery, who ran 34 yards for the score. The Bears added two Giorgio Tavecchio field goals and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Zack Maynard to Keenan Allen to move in front 13–7, before a Tyler Gaffney run gave Stanford back the lead in the middle of the third quarter. Touchdown passes to Levine Toilolo and Ryan Hewitt in the third quarter extended the lead. The Bears scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to move within 3 points with seconds to play, but Stanford recovered the onside kick to retain possession of the Axe for another year.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Notre Dame
Powered by four Andrew Luck touchdown passes, the Cardinal defeated the Fighting Irish in Luck's final home game at Stanford 28–14. With the first score, Luck tied John Elway's Stanford career touchdown total, and surpassed it. The Stanford defense held Notre Dame scoreless until midway through the third quarter, forcing a fumble and recording two interceptions. The Cardinal won its third in a row against Notre Dame, extending its longest winning streak in the rivalry that dates to 1925.


2011 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma State
In a back-and-forth thriller, the Cardinal fell to the Cowboys in overtime, 41–38, after kicker Jordan Williamson missed two late field goals, one at the end of regulation and one in overtime. Stanford rolled up 590 yards of total offense, including 347 passing yards and two touchdown passes from Andrew Luck and 177 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Stepfan Taylor, but Oklahoma State kept them close, forcing four ties but never taking the lead until the game's final play. Cowboys' quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon connected for three touchdown passes, but ultimately, the game was decided by special teams, with Oklahoma State kicker Quinn Sharp connecting on a 22-yard field goal in overtime shortly after Williamson missed his attempt from 43 yards.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2010–11 season, and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks four games to three. The Bruins ended a 39-year Stanley Cup drought with the win. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
The Canucks had home ice advantage in the Finals by virtue of winning the Presidents' Trophy as the team that finished with the best regular season record (117 points). They were also the first Canadian team to have home ice advantage in the Finals since the Montreal Canadiens had it for the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens' victory in 1993 was also the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
Until 2021, this was the last Stanley Cup Finals to feature a Canadian team and was also the last time that the Finals went the full seven games until 2019. In addition this was also the last time a Canadian-based team from the Big Four appeared in a championship round until the NBA’s Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA Finals.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
On June 1, 2011, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made an announcement that Colin Campbell would be stepping down as the league's head disciplinarian to be replaced by former player Brendan Shanahan, though Campbell would continue in his job as director of hockey operations. Mike Murphy, the NHL vice-president of hockey operations, had already been put in charge of disciplinary matters for the Finals, nonetheless there were concerns raised about Campbell's impartiality in handing out discipline since his son, Gregory, was an active player on the Boston Bruins roster.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
The first game of the series was held on June 1, while the seventh game was played on June 15. The games varied widely between those played in Vancouver and those in Boston. Prior to game seven, the Bruins had managed to score only two goals in three games played in Vancouver, against 17 scored in three games at Boston. On the other hand, while posting two shutouts in Vancouver, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was replaced with the backup Cory Schneider twice in three games in Boston.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
It was the fourth consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in which the deciding game was won by the road team. The Bruins scored almost three times the number of total goals as the Canucks, (23–8 in the series), but the Canucks won three games. The eight goals scored by Vancouver is the lowest number of goals scored by any team in a seven-game series in NHL history.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals
The Canucks averaged 1.25 goals per game at home in Vancouver and one goal per game on the road, while the Bruins averaged almost six goals per game at home in Boston and 1.5 goals per game on the road. In the seven games, the Bruins averaged roughly 3.3 goals per game, while the Canucks averaged 1.14 goals per game.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
The Bruins finished the regular season as the Northeast Division champion with 103 points, earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In their 33rd postseason meeting, Boston eliminated their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs in seven games. The Bruins went on to sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, outscoring the Flyers 20–7 in four games. Later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
This was the eighteenth appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Bruins, and their first since 1990, when they lost in five games to the Edmonton Oilers.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
It also allowed Boston to join Philadelphia as being the only cities to have had all of their teams play in each of the four major North American professional sports leagues' title rounds since 2000, following the Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI in 2002, XXXVIII in 2004, XXXIX in 2005, XLII in 2008, XLVI in 2012, XLIX in 2015, Super Bowl LI in 2017, Super Bowl LII in 2018, and Super Bowl LIII in 2019.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
The Red Sox winning World Series titles in 2004 (ending the Curse of the Bambino), 2007, 2013, and 2018, and the Celtics in the NBA Finals in 2008 and 2010 and winning in 2008. In addition, Boston beat out Philadelphia for playing in all of the "big" league championship rounds in the shortest time in the new millennium, as it took 9 years for Philadelphia to achieve this feat; Boston needed only three years and eight months.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
The Bruins would also play in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, so from 2004 to 2015 all four Boston major league teams have each reached the championship rounds at least twice and also won at least once during a decade from 2001 to 2011. Following the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy ranked all seven championships during the decade and ranked the Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup triumph as third, behind only the Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXVI (second) and the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series (first).


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Boston Bruins
The Bruins won their sixth Cup championship, and their first one since defeating the New York Rangers in 1972 in six games, which makes Boston the first city to have championships in each of the four leagues in the new millennium.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks, in their 41st season (including 2004–05 lockout), finished the regular season with the best record at 117 points, winning their first Presidents' Trophy in team history, and the Northwest Division championship. In the first round of the playoffs, the Canucks met the Chicago Blackhawks for the third consecutive postseason, having lost both previous series in six games. After Vancouver won the first three games, Chicago won the next three to force a game seven.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver won the seventh game in overtime on a goal by Alex Burrows to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3–0 series lead. The second round saw the Canucks eliminate the Nashville Predators in six games, with each game in that series decided by just a single goal (with the exception of an empty net goal scored by Vancouver in Game 4). Vancouver then went on to defeat the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals in five games.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Vancouver Canucks
This was Vancouver's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In their other Finals appearance before 1994, which came during their Cinderella run of 1982, they were swept by the Islanders. The most recent Canada-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The Canucks were the first team from Canada to make it to the Finals since the Ottawa Senators in 2007.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Vancouver Canucks
With Vancouver having hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canucks hoped to mirror what had happened following the other two Olympic Games held in Canada, in which the host city's NHL team won the Stanley Cup the following year. Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and the following year, the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, the previous year Calgary had hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Vancouver Canucks
With the loss, Vancouver became the third team to lose in the Finals after winning the Presidents' Trophy, after the Bruins in 1990 and the Detroit Red Wings in 1995.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Triple Gold Club
Center Patrice Bergeron became the twenty-fifth player to enter the "Triple Gold Club", consisting of individuals who have won the Stanley Cup along with gold medals at the Winter Olympics, and World Championships, as a result of the Bruins winning the series. Bergeron also won gold medals as a teammate of Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo at the 2004 Worlds and 2010 Olympics with Team Canada. Luongo – who also won the 2003 Worlds – would have become the first goaltender ever to enter the "Triple Gold Club", had the Canucks won. Both Luongo and Bergeron later got a second Olympic gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics .


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Triple Gold Club
Alternatively, Bergeron has also won a gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championships, joining fellow Canadians Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Chris Pronger, Joe Sakic, and Scott Niedermayer as the only players to have won the Stanley Cup and gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships and the World Juniors.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
Raffi Torres's goal with 18.5 seconds left in regulation broke a scoreless tie to give the Canucks the victory. The entire game was seen as a duel between the two opposing goaltenders; both Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Boston's Tim Thomas were Vezina Trophy finalists for the 2010–11 season. Thomas stopped 33 of 34 shots while Luongo made 36 saves for his third shutout of the 2011 playoffs.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
Both of Luongo's two previous shutouts of the 2011 playoffs had also occurred in a game one (a 2–0 victory against Chicago in the first round, and a 1–0 victory against Nashville in the second round). This was the first time since 1984 that the opening game of the Cup Finals was scoreless through two periods.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
Both teams killed off all penalties in the game, including a five-on-three power play Boston had in the second period, and a double minor high-sticking penalty called on Vancouver's Daniel Sedin in the first. At the end of the first period, Vancouver's Alex Burrows was called for a double minor roughing penalty on Boston's Patrice Bergeron, while Bergeron also got a roughing minor. Replays showed that Burrows could have bit Bergeron's finger, but the evidence was inconclusive. Despite Bergeron's pleading to the referees, no additional penalty was assessed to Burrows. However, despite biting being a suspendable offense, Burrows did not receive a suspension from the NHL on the grounds that no conclusive evidence that Burrows actually bit Bergeron could be found.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
In the second-fastest overtime in Stanley Cup Finals history, Alex Burrows scored 11 seconds into the first overtime to give Vancouver a 3–2 win. Burrows faked a shot, causing Boston goalie Tim Thomas to move out of position, then skated around the net to put the puck into the empty net for the game-winning goal; Thomas was not able to recover his position. This was Burrows's second goal of the game. He opened the scoring with a goal in the first period during the final seconds of a power play. Boston responded with two goals in the second period, one by Milan Lucic and a power play goal by Mark Recchi. However, Daniel Sedin tied the score at 2–2 about midway through the third period.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
The game featured the return of Vancouver's Manny Malhotra, who had not played a game since March 16, when he suffered a severe eye injury after taking a puck to the face. Both Thomas and Roberto Luongo still had good games, stopping 30 of 33 shots and 28 of 30 shots, respectively. With his second period goal, 43-year-old Recchi became the oldest player to score in the Cup Finals.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
Burrows led all players with three points, including his two goals and his assist on Sedin's goal. Before playing, Burrows promised his father that he would have a big game so that his controversial biting incident in the first game would be forgotten. Burrows' play only drew attention that he had not been suspended and was galling to Bruins fans as well as critics who did support a suspension. Analyst Mike Milbury was extremely vocal about the league's non-suspension during NBC's telecast, saying that it was "a disgraceful call by the league ... They're impacting this series by a non-call". Still, Boston head coach Claude Julien, Patrice Bergeron, and the rest of the Bruins refused to make it an excuse for not winning the game.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
Before the game, the Boston Red Sox baseball club moved their game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park from 7:10 p.m. EDT to 1:10 p.m. EDT to allow for Bruins fans to watch the game. This decision proved valuable as it took 14 innings for that game to end (ending at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET), pre-empting about 1/2 hour of NESN's pre-game Bruins coverage.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
The road team has the puck here, and it advances—taken right away. Here's Burrows! Fakes... can't take the shot. Burrows, wraparound, scores! Alex Burrows has done it again! 11 seconds in and the Canucks are up 2–0!


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
– Jim Hughson calling Burrows' game-winning goal in the CBC telecast


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
Boston scored four goals in the second period, and another four goals in the third, which resulted in an 8–1 rout. Mark Recchi scored two of them; Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille each scored shorthanded; and Andrew Ference, David Krejci, Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder each tallied one of the other four. Tim Thomas stopped 40 out of 41 shots, only allowing a third period goal by Jannik Hansen.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
At 05:07 into the first period, Vancouver's Aaron Rome received a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct for a blindside hit to the head of Boston's Nathan Horton. Horton was taken off the ice on a stretcher and was then transported to a hospital for further observation. However, the Bruins did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
Following a disciplinary hearing on June 7, Rome was given a four-game suspension for the late hit which assured that he'd miss the remainder of the 2011 playoffs, the first multi-game suspension in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals. Rome and the Canucks maintained that the play was a good hit that went bad, but the NHL determined that the hit came more than a second after Horton gave up the puck. The NHL considers a hit to be late if it comes more than half a second after a player gives up possession.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
A Boston Globe column by Dan Shaughnessy noted that Rome's hit on Horton inflamed the rivalry against Vancouver for that series, making it comparable to the long-running grudges that Boston's professional sports clubs held against other teams, saying "The Red Sox are playing the Yankees this week, but it is the Vancouver Canucks who '(expletive)' (rhymes with 'nuck')."


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
In contrast to game two, which featured only 10 minutes of penalties for the entire game, game three had 145 total penalty minutes, the most in a Cup Final game since 1990. The 8–1 score was the biggest goal differential in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1996, when the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Florida Panthers in game two by the same score.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game four
Tim Thomas made 38 saves and Rich Peverley scored two goals as Boston shut out Vancouver, 4–0, to even the series. Roberto Luongo, who stopped only 16 out of 20 shots, was replaced by backup goalie Cory Schneider after giving up the fourth Boston goal at 03:39 of the third period. Thomas' shutout was the first for the Bruins in a Stanley Cup Finals since Gerry Cheevers' 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens in game three of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game five
Roberto Luongo made 31 saves and Maxim Lapierre scored the game's only goal to give Vancouver a 3–2 series lead. This was the second 1–0 victory for Vancouver in the Finals; game one ended with the same score. Lapierre's goal came at 04:35 into the third period. Kevin Bieksa's shot went wide and rebounded off the end boards to Lapierre on the other side of the net, who then beat Tim Thomas after the Boston goalie was unable to recover his position in time. Thomas made 24 saves in the loss.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game five
Luongo joined Frank McCool as the only goalie to have two 1–0 shutouts in the Stanley Cup Finals; McCool's victories came 66 years earlier in 1945.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game six
Boston defeated Vancouver 5–2 in front of a roaring TD Garden crowd to force a deciding game seven, the 16th in Finals history. The Bruins scored four goals in a span of 4:14 in the first period, breaking the record for the quickest four goals tallied by one team in the Cup Finals. For the second time in the series, Roberto Luongo was replaced by backup goalie Cory Schneider; this came after Luongo gave up Boston's third goal at 08:35.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game six
Vancouver's Mason Raymond suffered a fractured vertebra 20 seconds into the game on an awkward hit into the boards by Johnny Boychuk, and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game six
With the loss, the Canucks fell to 3–5 in the 2011 playoffs in games in which they had a chance to clinch a series with a win.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game seven
In Boston's first-ever game seven of a Stanley Cup Finals, Tim Thomas made 37 saves as Boston shut out Vancouver, 4–0, to win the Stanley Cup. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored two of Boston's goals. Bergeron scored first at 14:37 in the first period, then had a shorthanded goal at 17:35 in the second. Marchand's first goal came at 12:13 of the second period; he then scored on an empty net late in the third. Roberto Luongo stopped 17 out of 20 shots in the loss. The game was the last of Mark Recchi's 22 year NHL career; he announced his retirement immediately afterward, during the post-game celebration.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Television
In Canada, the series was televised in English on CBC and in French on the cable network RDS. In the United States, NBC broadcast the first two and final three games, while Versus (now NBCSN) televised games three and four.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Television, Ratings
Game one on NBC drew the best television ratings for a first game since game one of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, drawing a 3.2 rating, up 14 percent from game one of the 2010 Finals. The rating was boosted by heavy interest in Boston's large market, which posted a 25.5/39, topping the 19.1/34 for game one of the 2010 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Television, Ratings
In contrast, game two drew just 3.37 million viewers for NBC, making it the least-watched Stanley Cup Finals broadcast on U.S. network television since game five in 2007, which also was the last time a Canadian team (the Ottawa Senators) advanced to the Cup Finals.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Television, Ratings
Games six, five and one are the third, fourth, and fifth most-watched CBC Sports programs with an average Canadian audience of 6.6 million, 6.1 million, and 5.6 million viewers respectively, after the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Television, Ratings
Game seven was the highest rated game on both sides of the border; in Canada, it was second most-watched CBC Sports program, drawing an average of 8.76 million viewers and trailing only the men's gold medal game in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics; In the US, NBC's broadcast drew a 5.7 national overnight rating and a 10 share (numbers that equaled game seven of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals), a number later updated to 8.5 million viewers, making the game the most-watched NHL broadcast in the US since 1973; in the Boston market alone, the broadcast pulled in a 43.4 rating and a 64 share.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Vancouver riots
The final game of the series attracted huge crowds on the streets of Vancouver who gathered to watch the game on outside monitors and cheer the home team on. Shortly before the game ended with the apparent loss for Vancouver, fires were set on West Georgia Street. After the game ended, cars were set on fire and fighting broke out. Soon, a riot was in progress in downtown Vancouver, with police cars set on fire, shops looted and attendant destruction of property. The damage was expected to be greater than the 1994 Vancouver riots that occurred after Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Rangers.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Team rosters
Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup engraving
The 2011 Stanley Cup was presented to Boston Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Bruins' 4–0 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh game of the finals.


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup engraving
The following Bruins players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup


2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup engraving, Stanley Cup engraving
Included on the team picture, left off the Stanley Cup


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
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. The first game of the Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins was held on June 1, and Boston went on to capture their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972 (sixth overall) in the deciding seventh game on June 15.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
The Canucks made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. The Detroit Red Wings increased their post-season appearance streak to twenty seasons, the longest active streak at the time. This was the last time that the Florida Panthers missed the playoffs during their record-breaking 10-season drought from the tournament. This was also the most recent time that the Buffalo Sabres made the playoffs; as of 2021, they have tied Florida and Edmonton's record for longest playoff appearance drought. For the first time in NHL history, all three California-based teams, the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks, made the playoffs. San Jose went on to the Western Conference final, marking the fifth time in eight seasons that a California-based team did so.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
This season marked the only time that all six division champions advanced to the second round, as the NHL has since reverted to a four-division alignment. For the first time in the history of major professional sports in North America, two different teams came back from a 3–0 deficit to tie a series, with the Chicago Blackhawks forcing game seven against the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, and the Detroit Red Wings doing the same against the San Jose Sharks in the second round (both lost). Previously, only the 1975 New York Islanders came back from two 3–0 series deficits in the same season (winning one).


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
By winning game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, Boston became the first team to win three game sevens in one year, a feat that has only been matched by the 2014 Los Angeles Kings. They also became the second team in three seasons (and only the third team in NHL history) to win the Stanley Cup after losing the first two games of the Final on the road. Vancouver would remain the only team without a Stanley Cup to reach game seven of the Finals, as they also lost game seven of their previous Finals appearance in 1994.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs
Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs. Bruins forward David Krejci led all playoff scorers with 23 points in 25 games.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Playoff seeds
The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top three seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the five remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Playoff bracket
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. In the Stanley Cup Final series, home ice is determined based on regular season points. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team plays at home for games one and two (plus five and seven if necessary), and the lower-seeded team is at home for games three and four (and if necessary, game six).


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 last met in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, 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, although the Rangers were only able to score eight goals in this series, losing it in five games.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres
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, as of 2021.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (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. 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 the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which ended with Boston sweeping Montreal.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
During the 2010–11 season, Montreal won four of six meetings. The February 9 game in which Boston won 8–6 featured six fights, a goalie fight, and a total of 187 penalty minutes. 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. The NHL did not suspend Chara for the hit, however Montreal Police opened a criminal investigation into the incident.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
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. 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, 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 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. 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. 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (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 over the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators in total regulation + overtime wins (43 to 38). They also lost the tiebreaker to Nashville on goal differential (+25 to +5). This was a rematch of the previous year's Western Conference Quarterfinals, in which Detroit defeated Phoenix in seven games.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes
The Red Wings had 13 different goal scorers in the series. This was the only sweep in the first round of the playoffs.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (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 in total regulation + overtime wins (43 to 38). 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 in regulation + overtime (43 to 38) while winning the tiebreaker over the Phoenix Coyotes in goal differential (+25 to +5). This was the first playoff series between these two teams. 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, 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 2003 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, 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).


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Washington Capitals vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
This was the sixth playoff series between these two teams. It was a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which Philadelphia came back from a 3–0 deficit to beat Boston in seven games. Boston swept Philadelphia out of the playoffs, avenging their blown 3–0 lead to move on to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1992. This series featured some goaltending trouble for Philadelphia; Boston outscored Philadelphia 20–7 in four games.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, 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. 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).


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (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 previous year's Western Conference Semifinals, 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, the second time in the 2011 playoffs, and the second time that the Red Wings had accomplished the feat.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Chicago had accomplished the same feat against Vancouver in the Conference 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. 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, 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).


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Final, (3) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning
Game seven featured remarkable discipline from both teams, as no penalties were called during the game, the first time this had 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, 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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Final, (1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (2) San Jose Sharks
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.


2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, 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.