Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn took a stroll through the NHL history books Saturday night after his latest success at getting a shot through from the point.
Dunn’s shot being deflected into the net by Matty Beniers left the defender with an assist on the play, giving him points in nine consecutive games. It’s the second time this season Dunn has achieved a personal best and franchise record nine-game streak, making him the first defenseman to do that since Mike Green of the Washington Capitals back in the 2009-10 season.
A guy nicknamed “Game Over Green” for his ability to end contests with a hard slap shot over a decadelong, 150-goal career with Washington, Detroit and Edmonton, seems an apt comparison for Dunn, whose own shooting prowess has jumped a level in a breakout offensive season.
“I’m just getting them through and hoping things happen once they get past the guy coming out at me,” Dunn said of avoiding defenders with his blasts. “I definitely think I had a lot blocked last year and maybe at the start of this year too. So, I’m just focused on getting it past that guy.”
Dunn’s 12 goals and 41 assists are a big reason the Kraken (37-22-7) remained within five points of the Pacific Division and Western Conference lead heading into Monday’s home rematch against the Dallas Stars. The lone standings point picked up in Saturday’s overtime loss to Dallas moved the Kraken 10 ahead of Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators teams seeking the conference’s final playoff spot with Dunn and company edging ever closer to officially clinching their first postseason berth.
His offensive totals and the defensive shutdown ability of his top defensive pairing with Adam Larsson have positioned Dunn as a candidate for team MVP. While such honors typically go to forwards — and Jared McCann can make a repeat MVP case as the franchise’s first 30-goal man and all-around special team performer — no Kraken player has evolved from average to an elite difference-maker in one season quite as Dunn has.
While Dunn’s secondary assists are well up on last season’s levels — at 22 compared to 19 — his primary assists have taken a quantum leap from 9 to 19. That’s partly a function of getting shots past defenders and to the net front, as also indicated by his goal totals jumping from 7 to 12.
Last season, defenders blocked 37% of Dunn’s shot attempts. This season, that number is down modestly to 34% even after his self-described early struggles getting pucks through.
But Dunn’s shooting percentage — shots that lead directly to goals — on unblocked shots is 41% higher than last season and advanced statistics from the Money Puck website say his “expected” shooting percentage is up 21%. That suggests Dunn isn’t merely getting lucky with pucks finding the back of the net and that improved shot selection likely has something to do with it.
And while Dunn is outscoring his “expected” goal numbers by the biggest margin of his career, the good shooters do that and the Kraken want him unloading when he sees opportunity. He’s gotten twice as many “high danger” shots past defenders this season and is scoring on those at double the rate.
On the defensive side, Dunn’s overall hits are well up while his penalty minutes are down. He and Larsson have logged the second most minutes of any NHL defensive pairing this season behind drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson of the Los Angeles Kings while their even-strength goal differential is second best among top-line pairs.
His on-ice goal differential — goals his team scores as opposed to giving up whenever he plays — is at plus-35 compared to a minus-9 last season. It helps that the defensive-minded Larsson is there to backstop Dunn when he moves up to join the rush or better position himself for a quality shot.
“Lars does a good job of getting me the puck,” Dunn said. “A lot of the time I’m coming in late, so just getting it past that first (defensive) layer is everything that’s on my mind.”
Dunn isn’t quite the point-getter “Game Over Green” was, averaging 0.47 per game compared to his now-retired predecessor’s 0.57. But in an era where shot-blocking by opponents has risen to unprecedented levels, Dunn’s improvement has had significant impact on a Kraken team where the offensive sum often tends to be greater than individual player parts.