Since the EVKIT is set up in such a way to continuously read from the MAX17201, the I2C communication prevents the IC of going into shutdown.
You can simply write 0x2294 to the Config register and then disconnect one end of the RJ-11, the MAX17201 should go into shutdown after ~3 minutes. Or write 0x0000 to HibCFG, then write 0x2294 to the Config register, disconnect one end of the RJ-11 cable and the MAX17201 should go into shutdown within 45 seconds. This can be verified with an ammeter which can measure μA as during shutdown the device should draw 1.5μA maximum for a single cell configuration.