Utah Hockey Club falls at home — again. What needs to change?

From Utah Hockey Club fans’ perspective, there was a lot to celebrate and a lot to question in their 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The frustrations that have plagued them for some time returned again, dropping them to a 1-4-0 record in their current home stand.

“I think that we did a lot of good things, to be honest,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game. “I’m disappointed — it’s another loss by one shot. I think that we played really good again in the first half of the game. I didn’t mind the way we played in the second half. Don’t get me wrong: Against Montreal, I didn’t like some stuff ... Same thing against the Islanders. Not tonight. I think we played hard.”

As frustrating as a loss like this can be for fans of the team, the result didn’t impact the amount of fun that the crowd had.

Let me explain.

Utah Hockey for dummies

This was the type of game that hooks people on hockey for life.

Right from the get-go, there was nothing but action. Utah HC forward Matias Maccelli popped a rebound past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin 1:01 into the game. Somehow, that was the longest it took for a goal to be scored at the start of a period in the game.

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin didn’t wait long to snipe a shot bar-down, evening the score 3:42 into the game. The teams traded another pair of goals before the end of the first period, mixing plenty of scoring chances and big hits in between.

There’s something different about watching the Rangers play. Their fans are loud and unapologetic, and it makes for intense games. They also travel well — There were nearly as many Rangers fans as there were Utah HC supporters. As the two teams battled for puck possession, the two fan bases battled for control of the chants.

It was anything but quiet in the Delta Center.

The second period featured a Logan Cooley goal 57 seconds in, followed by a less eventful period than the first. But the action picked right back up to start the third with a Rangers short-handed goal after 28 seconds, courtesy of Reilly Smith.

Halfway through the third, Chris Kreider scored on a set face-off play, which opened the opportunity for Panarin to score on an empty net toward the end of the game.

Oh, and Igor Shesterkin got within mere feet of his first NHL goal. He would have been the 16th goalie in NHL history to accomplish the feat.

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Utah Hockey for casual fans

For the third time this season, Maccelli did enough to silence his critics. Maybe he didn’t deserve criticism for his play on Thursday, but looking at the big picture, something has to change.

He scored twice on Thursday. It was his third two-goal game of the season, despite the fact that he’s only scored in four games. He has had slumps of nine and 23 games between goals.

Of course, he’s known more for his playmaking abilities than his goal-scoring, but his eight assists on the season imply that he hasn’t done much of that either.

Tourigny chalked Maccelli’s inconsistency up to puck luck.

Most of Maccelli’s goals, he said, come from rebounds. Rebounds are a combination of positioning and luck. If the puck doesn’t take the right bounces, he doesn’t score.

Tourigny also mentioned that Maccelli doesn’t have a lot of games since shortly before the Christmas break in which he finished negatively in expected goals. Again, the main difference between expected goals and actual goals is that fraction of luck.

While all of that is true, Maccelli’s body language suggests a little more. He has looked frustrated most of the season. When he has two goals, though, and he’s looking to complete the hat trick, he seems to have an extra bit of pep in his step. He seems motivated — determined, even — to put the puck in the net.

He needs to find a way to bring that fire every night and will that puck into the net, rather than relying on something as fickle as luck.

Utah Hockey for nerds

Here’s what went wrong for Utah on Thursday: They respected shooters far too much.

While it doesn’t appear this way at first glance, all four of the Rangers’ non-empty-net goals were the same. On every occasion, a Utah HC player reached to poke the puck away from the shooting Ranger. On every occasion, the Utah HC player could have taken the body or gotten his body in front of the shot.

It’s the little things like this that win you hockey games. Had Utah taken the shooter rather than swatting at the stick, they would have taken the two points, thanked the opponents for coming such a long way to visit and started preparing for the next game. Instead, their only win in the last six games came against the second-worst team in the league.

What’s next?

Next up is a divisional rival, the St. Louis Blues.

The Blues, who make their first visit to Salt Lake City on Saturday, are one spot above Utah HC in the standings — a difference of five points, though Utah HC has two games in hand. If one of these teams makes the playoffs, it’s likely that the other team won’t.

It’s the second of four matchups between these teams this season. Utah came out victorious in their first meeting, thanks to a late goal from Dylan Guenther. He won’t likely be available on Saturday, so just like Bonnie Tyler, they’ll need someone to step up as a hero.

The game, which starts at 7 p.m. MST, will be televised on Utah 16 and Utah HC+.