Penguins will see what effects their five-day layoff has created

The Dallas Stars will be tonight’s opponent at Mellon Arena.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — After a sluggish start, the Pittsburgh Penguins might have picked the wrong time to start building momentum.

The Penguins entered the season with high expectations but are below .500 and in last place in the Atlantic Division.

But just as Pittsburgh was starting to show signs of life — scoring 10 goals in winning consecutive games for the first time in more than a month — the team has five idle days between games.

“With all the time off we have had, sometimes you can lose that focus, that edge,” forward Colby Armstrong said. “It’s just all about making sure you’re mentally prepared to play.”

The Penguins haven’t had more than three consecutive days off all season and the only other time they have an idle stretch this long is over the All-Star break in late January. Pittsburgh last played Saturday night at home against Atlanta and will host Dallas tonight.

The challenge is to stay sharp during such a long break.

“You forget quickly how hard it is and how hard you have to compete every shift, so I guess [the coaches] will just have to remind the team before the game,” assistant coach Andre Savard said. “We had good practices all week, there was good tempo in the practices, and we reviewed the systems.”

The Penguins were 2-6-1 before playing strong games on Thanksgiving and two days later.

Pittsburgh twice erased two-goal deficits to earn a 6-5 shootout victory over the Eastern Conference’s top team, Ottawa, on Nov. 22 and, on Saturday, the Penguins beat Atlanta 5-0.

“It’s been a long week, but it’s been a little more fun because of those games,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “It went pretty good. It’s a lot better week than it would have been if we lost 5-0 in that last game.”

After the layoff, the Penguins play six games in nine days, including a four-game trip that includes a long flight through western Canada. The Penguins will play 15 games in the next 30 days, and that includes a stretch of seven of 10 on the road.

“We had a good, hard week of practice,” center Jordan Staal said. “I think guys are focused for the next game, and we obviously have a long road trip ahead of us, so this is a big three games here. It’s been a long week, a good week, but I think we’re all pretty excited to get back on the ice and play the game.”