It’s been a season to forget for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are fresh off of selling at the deadline and currently six points away from being in the bottom-five of the standings.

With Nicolas Roy, Bobby McMann, and Scott Laughton all shipped off to other teams due to the Leafs’ lacklustre performance to date, the mood around the Maple Leafs’ room is somber as the team stares down their first year without any postseason hockey since 2015-16, ten years to the date. Despite this, the team knows that they still need to treat every game as if they’re on the cusp of making the playoffs, and head coach Craig Berube says there’s no better time to channel that mindset than against their biggest rival.

“Montreal has always been a big rival game,” Berube told reporters at morning skate in Montreal when asked about what he wants to see from his team. So, I think, the intensity, right away, and playing good hockey with the puck, making this team play in their own end right away, putting the pressure on them, you know?”

The Canadiens are currently in the first wildcard spot and only one point back of the third-place Detroit Red Wings, having officially exited the rebuild phase with their playoff berth last season and looking to push beyond that this season.

“They’ve got some great skill over there, obviously, and they’ve got some guys on the back end that are highly skilled and can skate.”

The Maple Leafs recalled Toronto Marlies leading scorer Bo Groulx the morning of the game, and while Berube wouldn’t confirm if he would be in the lineup against Montreal, he said that Leafs’ brass was impressed with his season to date. Groulx has 27 goals and 50 points in 54 games.

“Well, we want to see guys, right?” Berube said. “We want to see what they’re all about and where they’re at in their game. He’s had a very good year down in the minors, so we’ll just have some guys up here we want to take a look at.”

The Maple Leafs will face the Canadiens on Tuesday night before returning home to face the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.