ST. LOUIS — The Blues are getting one of their most important defensive pieces back for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final
Vince Dunn had been sidelined since the middle of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against the Sharks after he was hit in the face with a puck.
The 22-year-old defenseman was a big part of this year's Blues team, with 35 points and a +/- of + 14 during the regular season.
"Being at the NHL at this age is very special to me," Dunn said. "I'm very honored to be a part of this group right now. I look at all of them like my brothers. There's no one I can't talk to, we're all comfortable with each other."
Before his injury in the Western Conference Final, Dunn was having a nice playoff run with two goals and five assists in 16 games.
"My whole life I've been working towards this goal, and even these past few weeks it's been that extra work to try to get back into the lineup," Dunn said. "So, just all of those things coming together right now. It's nice to see that hard work pay off and I think just taking it all in right now and not overthinking things and going to play the same game I've always played."
Dunn's injury was pretty rough, and even made it hard for him to eat a lot of solid food during his time away from the lineup.
"You can't just be drinking shakes the whole time," Dunn said. "As much as I can get into me, the better it is. I didn't want to lose too much weight over the last few weeks. It's a crucial time to try to keep your body the way it was coming into the playoffs, so whatever I can do to get food into me, that's what I've got to do."
Dunn's head coach Craig Berube knows the kind of player the club will be getting when Dunn hits the ice in Game 4.
"I think he'll be fine. He's ready to play and he's a 100% and he wants to go," Berube said. "We're going to get a good player back. It's going to be intense for him right away, but he'll get into it and make good plays with the puck like he always does. I expect the same Vince Dunn we've seen."
In warm-ups before Game 4 Dunn was paired with Game 2 hero Carl Gunnarsson, and also saw some work on the second powerplay line, which could certainly use a boost.
"He moves the puck as good as anyone on our team. He has the capability of doing high end things in the offensive zone sometimes," Berube said. "Not all the time, but there's just times he can do things that wow you a little bit. He can make something from nothing a lot of times."
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