I mean, they CAN change how the game plays in a patch, but I don't think there was anything like that mentioned in the recent patch notes.
I think the likely answer here is that the gameplay hasn't actually changed, people are just getting used to the game. Personally, I don't think the game really feels any different than when it released early.
They also changed wildcard penalties to penalty shots and then reverted it. This wasn't in any of the patch notes yet they went in and changed it.
EDIT: This week it has changed again, back to penalty shots.
