Habs teammates Shaw and Morrow get in shoving match

It happens a couple times a year: Tempers flare on the ice during a practice and teammates turn into combatants.

It happened Thursday at the Saddledome as the Canadiens prepared for tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Andrew Shaw, who has never been afraid to mix things up, got into a shoving match with defenceman Joe Morrow.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” coach Claude Julien said.

“It’s players showing emotion. At the end of the day, there’s a professional side to this game and there’s a personal side. What happened on the ice was professional and they’re going to be in the room and they’ll probably be hugging and buying each other a Gatorade and they’ll move on.”

Julien showed some emotion earlier in the practice, too. The coach wasn’t happy with what he saw on the ice and raised his voice a few decibels.

His players seemed more focused after the outburst.

There was a new face on the ice after defenceman Brett Lernout joined the team. The 6-foot-4, 213-pound Lernout was called up from the Laval Rocket to provide depth in the absence of Shea Weber, who is nursing a foot injury.

Julien has limited knowledge of the 22-year-old, but has heard good things from the people in Laval.

“They said he’s been playing well for quite a while,” Julien said. “He’s a defensive defenceman who’s big, strong and physical and he’s a guy who moves the puck, makes simple plays and that’s his strength.”

Julien said he didn’t know whether Lernout would dress for tonight’s game. That decision will probably come after the morning skate.

There’s also a decision coming on Artturi Lehkonen, who has been out with a lower-body injury since Nov. 11, but that decision will come from a doctor. He has been practising for a week, he says he feels good, but he needs a doctor to OK his return.

Julien plans to start Carey Price, who he said is coming off probably the best five-goal game of his career in Tuesday’s 7-5 win in Vancouver. But he faces another decision on whether to come back with Price Saturday in Edmonton.

“I’m keeping my options open,” Julien said.