While Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered little clarity on his goaltending situation as the team departed for Tampa, Fla., Monday morning, center Evgeni Malkin did provide a concrete prediction on the bigger picture.

“I believe in my team, I believe in myself,” Malkin said. “We’re coming back to Pittsburgh for sure.”

To be clear, Malkin means the Penguins will be coming back for a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final Thursday night. Not to clean out their lockers, as would be the case if they lose Game 6 to the Lightning on Tuesday night.

“We have a great team,” Malkin said. “If you want to win the Stanley Cup, it’s not easy. Yeah, it’s 3-2 but we still have a chance to come back and win.”

Malkin harkened back to the 2009 Stanley Cup final, when the Penguins lost Game 5 to Detroit, but responded to win Games 6 and 7 to claim the franchise’s most recent Stanley Cup. He also said this will be an important game for the team’s leadership core, including him.

“I think it’s a very huge game for leadership,” Malkin said. “It’s a tough situation, but if (you look at) history, it’s not over for sure. We lost in Detroit 3-2 but we came back and win the Stanley Cup. It’s not easy, but focus on one game, 60 minutes and just step on the ice.”

As for who will be in net when the Penguins do take the ice, it’s still up in the air. Sullivan said he would wait until Tuesday to reveal his starter, either Marc-Andre Fleury or Matt Murray.

Fleury made his first postseason start in Game 5, stopping 21 of 25 Lightning shots in the Penguins’ 4-3 overtime loss.

Sullivan said he thought Fleury played well early, but admitted “it might’ve gotten away from him a little bit as the game went on.”

“It’s a tough one,” Sullivan said. “It’s just a tough circumstance. As I said, we believe in the guys we have. We think we have quality guys. But as I said, it’s an imperfect situation. All things considered, we’re trying to make the best decision that we can that gives the team the best chance to win.”