Blackhawks could use more of the elements Andrew Mangiapane brings

Two of Andrew Mangiapane's best traits happen to fall in two categories where the Blackhawks need the most improvement.

They spent all week working on their forecheck pressure and backcheck tracking, acknowledging they haven't recovered enough dump-ins or forced enough turnovers in the offensive zone and they've especially given up too many odd-man rushes due to ineffective forechecks.

And they've talked for several weeks now about being more physical and tough to play against, including battling tenaciously for pucks and wearing down opponents in addition to dishing out hits.

Mangiapane, meanwhile, is one of the Hawks' few veteran forwards who's both fast enough and scrappy enough to move the needle on both fronts.

Yes, the 30-year-old winger isn't the offensive producer he used to be, but his nose for the puck and the net hasn't faded.

He still skates well, plays a direct north-south game and knows how to use his undersized 5-10 body to his advantage along the boards. He's willing to throw it around sometimes, too, and he's happy to ignite or jump into post-whistle scrums.

He even showed some of that feisty nature in practice Monday, barking at Hawks defenseman Sam Rinzel for a dangerous — albeit accidental — check behind the net. There were no hard feelings afterward.

So it's perplexing why Mangiapane hasn't been involved more in the Hawks' game plans so far this season.

Since getting cleared to return from injury Oct. 23, he has bounced in and out of the lineup. Entering Thursday, he had dressed four times — averaging about 11 minutes of ice time in those four games — and had been a healthy scratch five times.

He played well in his limited minutes, with the Hawks outshooting opponents 19-15 and outscoring them 2-1 during his five-on-five ice time. His line with Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi was dominant on Oct. 31 against the Bruins and decent again Nov. 2 against the Avalanche. Yet they were split apart throughout the Hawks' disastrous road trip.

Mangiapane finally returned to Frondell's line Thursday, this time opposite Patrick Kane. Ideally, this will mark the start of a genuine opportunity for him to find a niche on this struggling roster.

"He's definitely a guy who plays with energy and a guy who can create turnovers," coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's had a fairly small sample size with us, period. I’m still learning him as a player, totally.

"So, can he bring that? I think he can. He’s had some good moments in games, for sure. Hopefully he can continue to build more and more moments."

Mangiapane said this week he feels good physically, which hasn't been the case much lately (considering he played hurt all of last season).

He also said these three consecutive practices sharpened his understanding of the Hawks' systems, which is exactly what Blashill hoped would happen.

It's crucial to operate as a five-man unit on the forecheck, for example, with each guy fulfilling his role within the 2-1-2 structure. The Hawks have been failing on that front frequently.

"Everyone's mind has to be there," Mangiapane explained. "[You] can't be too early, because then they're not going to pass it to that guy. And [you] can't be too late, because the guy's going to have too much time. I don't think it's about speed. It's about meeting the puck at the same time.

"Maybe you're just trying to force the puck to another area so that your teammate can kill the play. And that's where you've got to be on the same page. Forechecking takes all five guys...because in this league, they'll just keep bumping it to the open guy. And if one guy is not there, that's when the breakdown happens."

We'll see moving forward if Mangiapane can help the Hawks execute it as well as he can explain it.