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Pens have good chance to bump slump versus Preds

Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (71) sits on the bench in the third period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins in Pittsburgh Monday, June 3, 2013. The Bruins won 6-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

In theory, the Nashville Predators seem like the perfect opponent for the Pittsburgh Penguins to try and jump-start their struggling offense against.

Not only are the Preds languishing in the goals-against department without injured star goalie Pekka Rinne, they’ve also played six straight road games ahead of tonight’s at Consol Energy Center.

“They have been on the road for what to us would seem like forever,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said, per NHL.com. “They’ve been on the road an awful lot and now they’re coming into our building.”

On top of that, the Pens are expected to have Paul Martin back in the lineup after the veteran defenseman missed a pair of games with a lower-body injury.

Pittsburgh could use an offensive breakout. With a mere three goals (none even strength) in their last three games (each of them regulation losses), the Pens find themselves just one point ahead of Washington for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The club’s two-time Art Ross Trophy winner, Evgeni Malkin, has gone 11 games without scoring a goal, managing just six shots in his last five games.