Yep, I used to be a ten minute player but shot totals were in the high forties with that after my first few games of 16
Moved to 8, and with about the average of 2 pps that you get per game with penalty sliders maxed, shots from both sides can be in the nice 26-36 range.
Currently playing on a difficulty increased Pro ( which is definitely harder this year ) and having nerfed accuracy for both sides and taken down the CPU's wrister / snap power and one-timer nonsense, I've played out a couple of enjoyable 2-1 games with manual shot aim.
Definitely noticing a third period CPU berserker mode if it's behind in the game. Was playing as the Canadiens versus Boston in the Garden and was 2-1 up at the start of the 3rd and it was almost as if the game speed zipped up to 3.5 from my two click slider setting for a few minutes. It was satisfying to not let them score but the jump was somewhat ridiculous.
Enjoying the goal variety and the goalies, I'm scoring some scrappy efforts and having to work for them. The game's still far from perfect, I'm not sure about the precision skating and seamless pickups efficacy but I'm happy enough with it to invest time in playing this year.