PITTSBURGH — There was an ominous cloud hovering over the Penguins as they prepared for Game 7 Tuesday night against the indomitable surging force the Rangers had become in Games 5 and 6.

A palpable air of angst hung in the Penguins dressing room after the morning skate, with players sounding as if they were talking themselves into believing that there was not more pressure on them despite being favored to win Game 7 in their building after squandering a 3-1 series lead on a seemingly gassed Rangers team.

“There’s enough pressure out there — outside pressure — all kinds of crap going around, so we might as well make it fun,’’ Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen said.

Niskanen made it clear the “outside pressure’’ and “crap’’ to which he referred was coming from the media, which has painted a picture of the Penguins as an underachieving team with two of the sport’s best players (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) that barely survived the Islanders in the playoffs last year, barely got out of the Columbus series in round one this year and was facing the prospect of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Rangers.

“No offense, but we’re not going to worry about the negativity going on outside the room on the morning of a Game 7,’’ Niskanen said. “We’ll worry about what we can control as a group and individually and try to play our best game of the series — our best game of the season, hopefully — and see where it takes us.’’

There has been heavy speculation in Pittsburgh that coach Dan Bylsma is coaching for his job Tuesday night.

Asked before the game if Tuesday night might be a “franchise-defining’’ moment, Bylsma said, “I don’t [think about that]. We’re in Game 7 to advance to conference finals. I’m not looking at any bigger picture than that.’’

In an effort to shake his team out of its two-game funk, Bylsma had the entire team stay in a downtown hotel Monday night — a grasp-at-straws maneuver to create a bonding road mentality for his players, who dined together at a downtown steakhouse and watched the Bruins-Canadians game together.

“We’ve played well on the road in the playoffs so far, so if it brings back whatever vibe we had, hopefully it’s for the best,’’ forward Lee Stempniak said.

Joe Vitale said: “Your mindset is different when you’re going on the road. You stick together a little bit more. So we were hoping to have that mentality — staying at the team hotel, eating together, taking the team buses. It shakes things up a little bit.’’

Niskanen joked staying in the hotel “wasn’t like we were at a pee-wee hockey tournament or anything like that, but it wasn’t like a business meeting, either.’’

“The mentality is we’re all in this together, so let’s hang out together before the biggest game of the season,’’ he said. “Hopefully we do bring that road mentality to the game. Sometimes there’s extra pressure to win at home. It’s a Game 7, it is at home, so we should use that to our advantage.’’

The Penguins faced this double-edged sword scenario: Is there more pressure on the home team in a Game 7 or should being on home ice be an advantage?

“For sure, we have a little bit of pressure on our side right now to go out and perform well at home,’’ Vitale said. “But we’ve got to use that pressure as our advantage, use it as something to energize us. You can’t let it hold you back.’’

Bylsma was asked if he was concerned about his players — particularly Crosby, who has been struggling to score goals — trying to do too much.

“You have to guard against every payer trying to do too much,’’ he said. “It’s going to come down to one play. There are going to be 2,000 plays in this game. Every player is going to have it on their stick, every player is going to be in that position to make that play, and that’s what you’ve got to be ready for.

“There’s a buildup for the game and you can’t be tense and full of pressure all day long. We talked about it (Monday); you’ve got to enjoy this moment. This is what we all play for and you’ve got to get excited about it.’’

Bylsma said players cannot become consumed with “the overbearing, overriding sense that a bounce here or a missed play there is going to decide this game.’’

“You’ve got to enjoy it,’’ he said. “You don’t remember Game 51, but we’re all going to remember this Game 7.’’