Knights defenseman aware that penalties are piling up

Jeremy Lauzon understands he’s been to the penalty box aplenty.

The Golden Knights defenseman knows he has to dial it in when it comes to infractions, especially the penalties with his stick.

But the 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound blueliner hasn’t changed the way he plays. It comes with the territory.

“I play on the edge, so I know I’m going to get called,” Lauzon said. “Also, I got a target on my back, I think, from playing physical.”

Lauzon has played all 11 games in his first season with the Knights. He’s been penalized in six of those games for a team-high 17 minutes.

More opportunity

Sometimes, in Lauzon’s mind, he can’t help it — like his interference penalty on Hurricanes right wing Seth Jarvis on Oct. 28 that led to a Carolina goal.

“If I’m physical with a guy, like the call I had against Carolina, boxing out a guy who leans in and he falls,” Lauzon said, “I’ll probably do the same exact thing 100 percent of the time because that’s kind of what I’m here to do.”

But Lauzon reiterated he knows he needs to stay out of the box, especially if he’s holding a claim as the sixth defenseman.

Lauzon will stay in the lineup when Noah Hanifin returns from injury Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings at T-Mobile Arena. Ben Hutton will come out.

Lauzon, a 28-year-old native of Val-d’Or, Quebec, has been tasked with being the protector, of sorts, for 24-year-old Kaedan Korczak in his first full season as an NHL defenseman.

The two have been fine as the Knights’ third pairing. The team is outscoring opponents 8-5 when they’re on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“I think they’ve been good. They’ve been steady,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re true to their identity. I think (Korczak) has been a little more physical with (Lauzon), which is good. I like where they’ve been as a pair.”

Laying the hits

Lauzon was brought to Las Vegas for his physicality. He’s seventh in the NHL with 801 hits since the 2022-23 season and leads the Knights with 41 this season.

“I won’t fight just to fight,” he said. “I’ll fight to defend my teammates. That physicality in my game has always been there and always will be. I think that’s something they lacked the last couple of years, so I’m happy to bring it.”

Lauzon and center Colton Sissons were acquired from the Nashville Predators in the trade involving defenseman Nic Hague on June 30.

The start to Lauzon’s tenure with the Knights was “frustrating.” He took part in one practice, then missed the next two weeks with an undisclosed injury.

That came after missing 54 games last season with a lower-body injury.

“Missing most of the year last year and missing training camp, it’s kind of like the worst-case scenario for the start of the year, but I think the more games I play, the better I felt,” Lauzon said.

Like old times

Lauzon played for Cassidy from 2019 to 2021 with the Boston Bruins, where Lauzon played 76 games. The Seattle Kraken selected him in the 2022 expansion draft.

Cassidy didn’t see him much after the Kraken took him, but he thought Lauzon was cleaner playing the puck — making good reads and decisions with it once retrieved.

“He was always a physical player,” Cassidy said. “He’s probably more mature now in terms of understanding the league, when you can play through guys. When we had him in Boston, that was all a learning curve.”

Lauzon appreciates how structured Cassidy’s system is, which allowed him to pick up play quickly.

He knows the first step to showing that is being available.

“The less penalties I take, the better my play is,” he said.

Sissons questionable

One day after returning to practice in a noncontact role, Sissons was a full participant at practice Monday and could be an option for Tuesday’s game, Cassidy said.

Center Brett Howden skated at first-line left wing Monday with center Jack Eichel and right wing Ivan Barbashev.

If Sissons can’t go, Howden will move back to the fourth line with left wing Cole Reinhardt and right wing Keegan Kolesar.

“We’ll see how he recovers from (Monday’s) practice,” Cassidy said. “We wanted to look at (Howden on the top line) anyway.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.