Crack down even further on obstruction penalties in the neutral zone. Add room behind the nets, stretching defenses thinner. Do anything, but bring back the offense. As for fighting, I don't see the big harm. A good, old-fashioned fistfight has rarely killed anyone.
Fights break out in hockey for numerous reasons.
Sometimes one team just needs a spark, and an enforcer will pick a fight to pick his team up. Sometimes two teams don't like each other and let the enforcers fight their battles. And sometimes, two guys just don't like each other. They have beefs about how the other guy has played, correct or not. So they drop their gloves and fight.