The other day I listened to the latest Puck Soup podcast (the episode entitled The Dumbest Person Alive), in which Greg Wyshynski and Dave Lozo discussed the recent rule changes. They came to the conclusion that the League was simply trying to make the games higher scoring by giving more 5-on-4 chances. But yesterday, the league dialed the calling of penalties waaaaay back, leading to confusion among the fans and players alike.
Preseason adjustment already by officials on slashing and face-off violations. NHL sent note to officials yesterday to dial it back a bit.