from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The steady influx into the league of remarkably talented and equally confident teenagers who don’t necessarily conform to previously established norms represents a major factor in the offensive uptick. The 2016 World Cup may not have a prominent place in history, but Team North America’s influence most surely endures.

It isn’t only scoring that’s up, but both scoring chances and golden scoring chances, at least from an anecdotal basis. Of course, keep in mind that I am surrounded by defense-optional operations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, so my sense might be warped, but probably not entirely. There are more chances, and more good chances, around the league.

And I’d give a good amount of credit for that to the NHL’s crackdown on slashing that officials have maintained from the start through the finish. The inability of beaten defenders to hack away at attackers’ hands or chop at them once a half-step behind has opened up the ice from the wide hash-marks in. Enforcement of the rule has created more one-on-one situations with which goalies have to contend.

This has been a welcome exception from the league, which has generally abandoned previous, assorted crackdowns by mid-season. Now the trick will be for the refs to enforce the rule just as consistently in and though the playoffs as they have during the season.

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