Only played 2 offline games, but noticed a few things:
(I played as Buffalo vs Montreal) on all star.
-I got a lot of rebounds. I actually got a nice realistic rebound goal. These were rare before the patch. I'm not sure if they tweaked this or if it is just a product of the less accurate shooting. I actually get goal mouth scrambles now, rather than just a shot, save and a whistle every single time.
-The one timer fest is cancelled! Finally the game isn't dominated by one timer after one timer after one timer after one timer.
-Shooting is amazing. If you are in good position, you can still score, but you can't beat goalies from way outside in bad position. It is hard to describe, but everything just felt much more realistic.
-Defensive line change bug fixed - this irritated me more than penalties.
-Powerplays! Lots of them! When I drive in on net sometimes the CPU will take me down very realistically to prevent a goal but will take a minor penalty.
-The flip dump is actually effective now as far as I can tell. The Sabres aren't much of a dump and chase team so I didn't use it much, but it isn't so easy to automatically clear it against the CPU.
-Overall I really enjoy the game now. I'm not sure what else was tweaked but the whole thing just "feels" better. I'm glad I restarted my franchise. At one point, my disappointment with 09 was causing me to not play offline at all, but now I will get a franchise going for sure.
-I did not have problems with the CPU scoring on all star, but I was playing a weak defense (Buffalo) against the Habs who are good. My first game I got blown out 4-2 (although I was out of practice and hadn't played in a bit). The next game I won in OT 3-2. I won the draw and Vanek broke in on a partial breakaway and buried a nice wrister past Price. Nice to see the shooting tweak didn't hurt good shooters in good shooting position. I had a wrist shot goal from Roy too from a good spot in the slot.
I'll have to play some other teams to see if I have problems being scored on. The Sabres D is not very highly rated in the game, so that could be part of it. I'll take a lack of scoring to get rid of all the CPU cheese that was out there before the patch.
Overall I love it. It feels like a new game to me. I didn't try online yet, but will soon.