{"id":506526,"date":"2026-03-16T18:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/506526\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:27:15","slug":"auston-matthews-hit-has-brought-a-new-change-this-nhl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/506526\/","title":{"rendered":"Auston Matthews\u2019 hit has brought a new change this NHL season"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent hit on Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> captain Auston Matthews<\/a> has led to a wider discussion across the NHL<\/a>. The incident has raised questions about the team\u2019s response when star players take dangerous hits.<\/p>\n

During a recent broadcast, NHL on TNT analyst Anson Carter pointed to a clear contrast between Toronto and Edmonton Oilers<\/a>. Carter praised the Oilers\u2019 reaction after Leon Draisaitl<\/a> was hit in Sunday\u2019s 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Draisaitl left the game after Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt delivered a hard hit in the first period. Edmonton players quickly stepped in after the hit, showing strong support for their teammate. Carter said that the response reflected the mindset of a team with championship experience.<\/p>\n

MORE: Auston Matthews\u2019 agent slams NHL\u2019s \u2018reckless\u2019 decision after season-ending setback<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wanna talk about the response from the Oilers,\u201d Carter said. \u201cGreat response. You saw what happened in Toronto. Everyone\u2019s been talking about that, the lack of response. Draisaitl gets hit by Wiesblatt, and everyone\u2019s in there. Pack mentality. That\u2019s a sign of a team that\u2019s went to the last two Stanley Cup finals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<p>Edmonton<\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) and other Oilers\u2019 players during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The reaction looked different in Toronto earlier this month. Matthews took a hard hit from Anaheim Ducks<\/a> defenseman Radko Gudas that drew heavy attention from fans and media. In the game, the Maple Leafs did not respond immediately on the ice, which led to criticism about the team\u2019s toughness.<\/p>\n

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Coach Craig Berube questioned<\/a> the lack of response from his players, saying, \u201cWe should\u2019ve had four guys in there doing something about it, but it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d The situation created an uncomfortable conversation in the locker room and around the league.<\/p>\n

Bissonnette on the impact of Auston Matthews\u2019 hit<\/p>\n

Former NHL player Paul Bissonnette believes that moment changed how teams now react across the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a situation like Toronto\u2019s and seeing the media coverage that it\u2019s getting, it\u2019s probably putting everybody on high alert where anybody on your team\u2019s getting hit, and they go down now, you gotta answer the bell,\u201d Bissonnette said. \u201cEspecially your top player, and especially if you\u2019re heading into playoffs. You gotta set the tone now.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the playoffs approaching, many teams now view those moments as chances to set a stronger tone on the ice.<\/p>\n

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The post Auston Matthews\u2019 hit has brought a new change this NHL season<\/a> appeared first on The Big Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent hit on Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has led to a wider discussion across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[233,11276,532,198,146,5300,59450,5,370,231,4,24,8336,1291,7429,9464,9334,31],"class_list":["post-506526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton-oilers","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anson-carter","tag-auston-matthews","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-edmontonoilers","tag-hard-hit","tag-hockey","tag-leon-draisaitl","tag-nashville-predators","tag-nhl","tag-oilers","tag-ozzy-wiesblatt","tag-paul-bissonnette","tag-paul-skenes","tag-radko-gudas","tag-star-players","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116240269025215234","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}