The 2011–12 Boston Bruins season will be the 88th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 4, 1924. In the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins became the first team in NHL history to win a 7-game series without scoring a power-play goal, as they eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in 7 games, and also won their first playoff series after trailing 2 games to none. On May 6, the Bruins swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992. Boston then defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 to face the Vancouver Canucks.
The Bruins lost the first two games of the series in very close contests, 1–0, on a goal with less than 19 seconds left in regulation, and then 3–2 in overtime. Game 3 did not start well for the Bruins either, as they lost Nathan Horton to injury at the 5:07 mark of the first period following a late hit by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome that left Horton prone on the ice for nearly 10 minutes. Despite losing Horton to a devastating hit, the Bruins defeated the Canucks, with 4 goals in each of the second and third periods, twice scoring short-handed goals, and going on to win, 8–1. It was the highest score by one team, and largest winning margin, in a Finals game since 1996. Game 4 saw the Bruins defeating the Canucks in a 4–0 shutout.
The home team continued to be the winner, with Game 5 in Vancouver going to the Canucks in a 1–0 shutout, then Game 6 going to the Bruins, who staved off elimination with a 5–2 defeat of the Canucks. The Bruins set a new record for the quickest four goals ever in a playoff series game, scoring in only 4:14 of game time in the first period of Game 6. Game 7, which was played in Vancouver on June 15, was the first time the Bruins have ever played in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins shut out Vancouver 4–0, winning the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history and breaking a 39-year Cup drought. The 2010-11 Bruins were the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 three times in the same playoff run.