SALT LAKE CITY – While the Utah Hockey Club was able to piece together a productive and successful second period, familiar issues manifested in the third period as the Rangers scored three unanswered goals to steal a 5-3 victory. Despite continued brilliance from Logan Cooley and an impressive performance from Matias Maccelli, Utah lost their fourth of seven straight games at home.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s loss to the New York Rangers.
44 games into the season, it’s been somewhat of a struggle from a production standpoint for Utah Hockey Club forward Matias Maccelli.
After a career-year for the Arizona Coyotes last season with 57 points (third-most on the team), Maccelli has struggled to produce with only 15 points thus far.
As of right now, No. 63 is on pace to finish with just 27 points overall this season. That’s down 52 percent year over year.
However, there’s an interesting pattern developing for Maccelli in terms of his scoring production.
With seven goals tallied for Utah this season, six of them have come in pairs in three different games when Maccelli has been absolutely buzzing.
Similar to his performance against the Rangers, Maccelli has simply possessed a different energy when he’s been able to find the back of the net more than once in a game.
He’s relentless around the net, follows rebounds, moves the puck well and greatly impacts the game when he lights the lamp.
Great pressure from the second line and Maccelli made sure to clean up the rebound.
Great start. Need to keep it going. https://t.co/SIWTYakqpd
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
Relentless effort by Maccelli to bury that rebound for his second of the night.
The second line is workin’ Shesterkin. https://t.co/2JJpwBRnlV
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
For a team that’s been lacking firepower outside of just a few players, they need Maccelli to bring that same effort as often as possible.
Is he going to score twice a night? No. But he can play with a more consistent energy that would positively impact the team.
Maccelli can clearly be a gamechanger and Utah needs him to bring that same effort he had against the Rangers every single night.
On a nightly basis, it seems as though Logan Cooley is making leaps and bounds in terms of his progression.
Since the beginning of December, Cooley has nearly averaged a point per game with 18 points (7G, 11A) in 20 total contests.
As a result of his sustained production, No. 92 is now only five points behind team-leader Clayton Keller (43) with 38 total points.
After scoring in the second, Logan Cooley now has 13 goals and 38 total points (2nd on the team behind Keller).
In 82 games last season, he had just 44 points.
Special season for the 20-year-old. https://t.co/Wf6o7aytxp
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
Absolutely filthy pass from Keller. To know he was there and put it right on his stick is ridiculous.
Then Cooley buries it.
Utah is letting shots fly tonight and it’s working. https://t.co/mE41KLvk5G
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
Cooley is clearly a special offensive talent with his speed, creativity, elite puck skills and a wicked shot.
But he’s also a complete and well-rounded player who contributes defensively and on special teams.
Impressive backcheck from Logan Cooley on the last sequence.
He turned the puck over in the O-zone, turned on the jets to get back and created a turnover to win possession.
That’s phenomenal effort.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
That’s not particularly common for someone so young and inexperienced.
“One of his qualities is he’s effective in every style,” Andre Tourigny said.
“The way he plays defensively as well. The way he plays inside and the way he’s competing physically.”
There’s also an impressive amount of maturity that Logan Cooley possesses that you don’t often find in someone at the age of 20.
Rather than boasting of himself during a special season, he’s completely focused on the team’s success and doing whatever it takes to break out of their slump
“It’s all about the team. Individual success is nice but it’s all about winning games.”
“Right now, we’re working on trying to get back in the win column.”
Logan Cooley has an incredible team first mindset.
Despite playing his best hockey, he’s more focused on team success:
“It’s all about the team. Individual success is nice but it’s all about winning games.”
“Right now we’re working on trying to get back in the win column.” pic.twitter.com/LL8bP3OBJ1
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
Based on the way he’s blossomed this season and how much room he has left to grow, Cooley is a special player with super star potential.
Looking ahead to this offseason when Cooley becomes eligible for an extension, Utah needs to do whatever it takes to keep him in Salt Lake City as long as possible.
While the team was able to avoid a poor second period against the Rangers, some familiar woes manifested in the third that resulted in three unanswered goals and another loss at home for the Utah Hockey Club.
Yet again, the team was unable to match the intensity of their opponent, lacked offensive opportunities, and the wheels completely came off.
SHEESH.
Smitty put some heat on that one. pic.twitter.com/o1GFSQIhQw
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 17, 2025
Chris Kreider. That is all. pic.twitter.com/8AC1l6vRqw
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 17, 2025
So, while it was a positive sign that they were able to avoid a poor middle frame, those same exact issues resurfaced in the third.
“Today was a better day mindset wise in how we approached the game…but it doesn’t really matter because ultimately we lost the game,” Ian Cole said.
“We need to right this ship and no one else is going to do it for us…”
Like Cole pointed out, it doesn’t matter if the mindset was better going into the game or that they pieced together a better second period.
This team simply needs to find consistency and give a full 60-minute effort if they want to win some hockey games.
The Utah Hockey Club will host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
