from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

... It's not as if scoring from above the dots or the top of the circle was ever unheard of. It used to be commonplace, whether it was Frank Mahovlich or Brendan Shanahan with a clapper from just inside the blueline or Phil Esposito or Tim Kerr releasing wrist-shot bullets from the high slot. It did, however, seem as though, somewhere along the line, the goalies got so big or so good that it was rare to see them beat cleanly from any distance. Remember all that talk about making the nets bigger?

In the first week of the season, though, it sure seems like there have been a lot more clean-shot goals from a distance and many of them seem to be coming off the sticks of precocious rookies who appear to think a goal counts double if you can put it in the top corner.

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