One: Dunn Growing as a Leader, By Action and Words
Vince Dunn hasn’t pulled any punches in the last two Kraken games, getting into scraps with Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram (who took exception to Dunn’s hit on a Colorado teammate) and Edmonton forward Dylan Holloway, who had boarded fellow Seattle D-man Brian Dumoulin. Dunn landed any number of blows against both young opponents and clearly caught the attention of his teammates. Dunn leads the team in average time on ice (more than 24 minutes) and is embracing a leadership role in the process.
So no surprise that Dunn didn’t pull any verbal punches when discussing Saturday’s disappointing loss to Edmonton (which nonetheless fired its head coach Sunday after a 3-9-1 start).
We can keep saying we’re working hard,” said to the post-game media scrum Saturday night. “But we have to work smart. Obviously, the way we played in the first two periods aren't even close to getting enough to win and give ourselves a chance. It's disappointing that we got down [four-goal EDM lead] so quickly. We are more than capable of playing with every team in the league. It’s just a matter of showing up on time and playing as a group.”
As for working smart, Dunn pointed out Oilers goal Stuart Skinner was not hassled too much net-front, especially in terms of screening to disrupt the goaltender’s sightlines and overall comfort level in his positioning: “When an opposing goalie is seeing pucks and there are that few of shots [17 on the night], you're not really giving yourself a chance.”
