There are a few reason scoring and penelty calls are down. First of all players are getting better at avoiding penelties. Of course there are going to be more calls when massive rule changes take effects, and that spike will go down over time as players get use to the rules. Thats the main reason penelty calls are down and the reason no rule change is going to result in a long term increase in power plays…

Also teams are getting better at killing penelties, and playing defense. Your not seeing nearly as much run and gun in the NHL as you were a few years ago. Now its all about defense first. The only true run and gun team last year was blown out in the first round by another semi-run and gun team which was in turn blown out in the 2nd round.

The other thing is, the refs have backed off calling some of the more laughable penelties we have been seeing over the last few years. There have been way too many times where “hooking” was called for lifting a players stick, or giving them a love tap on the gloves as they were breaking in. Those were BS calls, and the refs have ever so slightly backed off them over the last couple years. Thats a GOOD thing.

Look, a little bit of obstruction is not why goal numbers are down. Teams are better defensivly, players are taking less penelties because they have adapted to the rules, and refs aren’t calling as many BS penelties. I little more obstruction to slow the game down a fraction probably isn’t a bad thing. It was after all just a year ago when everyone was talking about how the game had become to open and that it was becoming dangerous…