Nashville Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon doesn't have a hits list.

The 26-year-old from Val-d'Or, a city in Quebec, just happens to like to hit, which lands him on some people's lists.

"Hits happen," he said. "Part of the game."

Lauzon, who is 6-foot-1, 204 pounds, happens to lead the league in that category with 147. He finished ninth with 250 last season.

One of those saw Lauzon not-so-delicately deposit Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato into the boards in front of the home team's bench at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night.

Almost in stride, Lauzon lifted his left leg over those boards, then his right, before situating himself on the Predators bench midway through the first period of the Predators' 3-0 victory.

Strike one.

'I'm always going to answer for what I do'

Just shy of three minutes left in the second period, Chicago's Nick Foligno took exception to Lauzon striking Philipp Kurashev behind the Blackhawks net.

Strike two.

His self-described clean hit on Kurashev was followed by hit after hit from Foligno's fists while the two settled the score with their knuckles, at Foligno's insistence.

All part of the gig, said Lauzon, who spent most of the tussle with his gold Predators jersey swallowing his head.

"I think there's a time and a place to fight," he said. "When the momentum is not on our side. . . . But I'm always going to answer for what I do on the ice.

"If the hits are clean, the hits are clean. . . . I'll continue doing that knowing that, yes, there's a possibility of people getting mad at me and are going to want to fight me."

A couple of lockers down from Lauzon's, Luke Schenn, who led the NHL in hits last season with 318, nodded in agreement.

"I appreciate his game probably more than anyone," said Schenn, who began this season sixth on the NHL's all-time hits list. "I know what it takes to play that way and it's not easy every single night.

"Sometimes you have to talk yourself into playing that way, playing with that edge and playing mean. He's really good at it."

'I can't fight every single time'

Lauzon isn't always interested in fighting back.

That was the case Nov. 19 during a game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Lauzon made a hit. The Canucks didn't like it.

Lauzon's teammate Michael McCarron stepped in, threw down with Dakota Joshua and was ejected as a result.

"I can't fight every single time I make a hit," Lauzon said, adding that McCarron's intervention was much appreciated.

Lauzon's hit doesn't always get the intended target. Sometimes he sends himself full-speed ahead into the board when his target moves.

"Sometimes I'm a little too aggressive on plays," he said. "I try to read it correctly. Especially knowing the players I'm playing against.

"If I'm playing against Patrick Kane, he's probably not going to try me wide. He's going to try to slow the game down and cut to the middle. Same thing for (Connor Bedard). They are really smart players, so I need to be smart."

'I'm never saying I want to hurt them'

Lauzon insists his hits are legit. He doesn't subscribe to playing dirty. He doesn't want to make a hit at the expense of being taken out of a play.

"I work on it a lot," he said. "It's a lot of timing."

He has apologized to opponents whom he's accidentally hit the wrong way, he said.

That happened a couple of years ago when Lauzon played for the Boston Bruins and was suspended for two games for a hit on Arizona's Derek Stepan.

Lauzon suspended two games | NHL.com

He'd collected the puck in stride as he exited the penalty box and unleashed a shot that was deflected high to Stepan along the side boards.

Lauzon then got Stepan from behind, his right shoulder into Stepan's head, which hit the glass.

Strike three. Lauzon was thrown out of the game.

"I'm never hitting somebody saying I want to hurt them," he said. "I want them to know I'm there, I'm hard to play against."

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon not shy about his hits