Not exactly 40, but Tampa were outshot by the Canes by 25 over games 1 and 2 in 2021 (12.5 vs 13.3 S/G). Vegas were outshot by 29 over three games by the Oilers last year.
SOG tallying was a thing 10 years ago. Filipovic on the PDOcast repeatedly brings up how ironic it is that the analytics community complained for years that broadcasts didn't show the shot tallies at all times, yet by the time the broadcasters did so they've come to the conclusion that they may not only be irrelevant but even actively misleading. NHL goalies and people who work with them seem unanimous in that the new NHL is a nightmare for goalies compared with just a few years ago, why? Most teams no longer give them easy shots. They used to get 30 a night where 15-20 were routine saves and only 5 truly difficult ones. Nowadays they see 20 but 10 are dangerous, and without getting the rhythm from the easy ones it's harder to make the difficult saves as well.
The Canes are playing perfect 2010's hockey but are getting beat by one of the epitomes of 2020's hockey. I would be surprised if the Rangers' way of playing isn't heavily influenced by ClearSight's analytics, they are one of the best at both utilizing and preventing the royal road pass, while having little issue letting Shesterkin see a little rubber from the outside. Now, the Canes are amazing at 2010's hockey so the games are close but pointing at the shot clock and saying "Canes dominate, Rongos lucky" is just facile.
Tl;dr obnoxiously summarized by
@huerter; "new meta"
