It does work. This is the same mechanic used in FIFA. Play a few games of FIFA to get used to the timing, and go play NHL94 right after using the same pass dynamics. It doesn't increase it exponentially, but it does work.
Also, an interesting tidbit also brough up by @kingraph when reading about the crowd/momentum meter. When I used to play head to head, after a whistle, switch to your goalie and skate as far as you can go then wildly dive out over and do that over and over again. You'll hear the crowd building and the db meter goes up way quicker after you win a faceoff. It's a little cheat I used.