Yes, I’d recommend usually for people to try new skates in person, but the issue here is that 1) your LHS is 6 hours away, 2) LHS have extremely limited inventory right now and won’t have the sizes you need (even worse may push you skates they want to get rid off), 3) you seem to know that you have a particular feet that may need EE and most LHS stock D, and 4) you get to try the skates at home and take your time to do all sorts of random tests over and over again (like the pencil test).
You should not go in with the mindset that your new skates will need to be punched. If it feels like it need punching right out of the box, it’s not a right fit.
If you need wide toe caps, try the new RibCor, Tacks, or Nexus in D. If they’re pinching, try the EEs. If your toes don’t feel as snug as the other parts of your foot but there’s no pinching, try EE in Supreme and Jetspeed.
Before you go to the store or purchase online, make sure to read and do the following: https://www.icewarehouse.com/lc/icehockeyskatesizing.html
A final point: do not let a wider forefoot make you feel like you need a longer skate. A lot of people complain about pinching toes in narrow skates like Vapors and think they need bigger skates. This is not true. Measure your feet and be conservative (it’s probably smaller than you think and I’d fit you half size down even from what you measure at home). The width is independent of the length and those skates I recommended above are the ones with wider toes. The right skate should have minimal to no pinching pre-bake and at least one of your foot’s toes should brush the toe box.