Bolland makes up for early gaffe

It was easily Dave Bolland’s best shift of the game.

At one end of the ice he was crushing Mike Richards with a hit that might be reviewed by the NHL. At the other end he was drawing a tripping penalty by Jeff Carter.

It all happened in the last two minutes of the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win over the Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

“Maybe. It could have been. I don’t know,” Bolland said when asked if the last few minutes were his best of the night. “The last few minutes we did our job and got the puck out of our end.”

Replays appeared to show Bolland leaving his skates to hit Richards on the chin with his shoulder.

“He was there and I just came in and hit him, then drew the penalty,” Bolland said. “Getting those penalties are huge. In the last two minutes we did a great job.”

Richards argued that there should have been a penalty on Bolland.

“It’s a quick game,” Bolland said. “It’s a hard-hitting game. That’s just the way it is. That’s the way the game goes. You get hit. It happens. It’s happened to me.”

“It was a great defensive play by Bolly,” said Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith. “Then to get up in the play and create the power play for us.”

Bolland’s finish was a lot better than his start. It was his clearing try that Justin Williams knocked into the net in the first period.

“The first one was a little bit of a gimme there what I did, but you put those things behind you and move on,” Bolland said.

“We came out and played our game and did the right things, got the puck in deep and worked their defense down low. But we can’t get too high in this room. Got to stay on an even path.”

Fits right in:

Bryan Bickell had an assist with 6 hits and 5 shots in 17 minutes of ice time in his new spot in the first line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.

“Bicksie is a great skater and when he’s moving his feet he’s so dangerous crushing people and opening up the space for us,” Hossa said. “Big body and he’s having unbelievable playoffs.”

Bickell drew the second assist on Hossa’s goal, a tip-in of a shot by Duncan Keith.

“I know they collapsed the middle really well, (which let me) get it to Keith and (he) recognized that Hossa’s in front and getting a stick on it like that,” Bickell said. “It was huge goal for the team.”

Caught him:

The TV cameras caught Marian Hossa winking at the cameras during the national anthem.

“Lots of my friends back home were watching at the bar,” Hossa said. “I was just giving them some signal. They called me before the game, said they were going to watch. Hopefully they got the signal.”

Another Toews fan:

Last series it was Detroit coach Mike Babcock gushing over Jonathan Toews.

This series it’s Kings defenseman Drew Doughty who appreciates how the Hawks captain competes.

“He’s up there at the top,” Doughty said. “I don’t really know who to compare him to, but he’s tough to play against. He’s strong. He plays really well defensively. ...

“Down low he’s a battle to play against. He takes the puck to the net hard and I don’t think as many players do that these days as they used to do.”

Doughty got a sense of Toews’ leadership ability when they were teammates in the Vancouver Olympics playing for Babcock.

“He’s a great leader,” Doughty said. “He always seems serious, too. He kind of has that (Steve) Yzerman type of look where he’s just always on the ball, always ready to go.”

Not a big fan:

Not everyone loves the Madhouse on Madison. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty can do without it.

“It’s a tough rink to play in. It’s not one of my favorites, that’s for sure,” Doughty said. “I don’t know. I just don’t like it. I just never had a good vibe myself, not with our team or anything, just myself. I haven’t had a good vibe in it, but I’m pretty determined to change it.”