Matt Hendricks fights Steve Downie on Feb 4, 2011. AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Conference Semifinals Previews 2011

A day late here, but Jamie's had the polls and previews going from the moments the matchups were known.

East

#1 Washington vs #5 Tampa Bay
#2 Philadelphia vs #3 Boston

West

#1 Vancouver vs #5 Nashville
#2 San Jose vs #3 Detroit

My quick predictions:

East

Caps in 7
Bruins in 7

West

Canucks in 6
Sharks in 6

How I did in the first round: 6 for 8, not bad.

Fights

You never know in the playoffs, but if history means anything, we'll see more fights out of the East.  Neither Western matchup saw any fighting majors this season.  There were a total of 7 in the East: 5 from the Caps-Bolts series, 2 from Flyers-Bruins.