If you hold X/A down at the same time, that normally rotates you away from the defender and in the direction of the boards.
@EA_Aljo
"Normally", I would agree 😃.
For the last couple weeks, though, this has gone out the window. It's felt like no matter which hand my player is, which side of the ice I'm on, or whether I use X or not, my guy spins into the D and coughs it up. That's why I thought maybe something had changed in the controls, and jumped in when I saw this thread.
I'll try to be more aware of what I'm doing, I guess.