PHILADELPHIA _ The fading Flyers missed a chance to move into first-place tie in the Metropolitan Division on Wednesday night.
They dropped a 5-2 decision to Pittsburgh at the Wells Fargo Center and slipped three points behind the Penguins, who climbed atop the Metro, one point ahead of idle Washington.
The Flyers are in third place with 15 regular-season games remaining. They are just three points ahead of New Jersey, the wild-card leader.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Flyers, who had a 12-game points streak (10-0-2) before their current skid.
Conor Sheary scored a pair of goals and Sidney Crosby had three assists to pace Pittsburgh, which has won all three meetings against the Flyers this season.
Trailing 2-1, Pittsburgh scored the last three goals of the second period, including two by Sheary, to build a 4-2 lead.
With the Flyers on a power play, Jordan Weal appeared to have an open net in front, but the puck bounced over his stick and the Penguins went down the other end and eventually made it 4-2 as Sheary scored on a rebound with 39.3 seconds left in the second period.
The Flyers' power play was 0 for 5 on the night and is 1 for 19 in the last six games.
Evgeni Malkin closed the scoring with an empty-net goal.
After playing an undisciplined first period, the Flyers swarmed Penguins rookie Tristan Jarry early in the second stanza and took a 2-1 lead on goals by Jake Voracek (15th) and Travis Konecny (18th).
Konecny, battling at the left side of the net, kept pounding away and scored on his second rebound attempt, putting the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with 14:59 remaining in the second.
A short time later, Eagles center/Mummer-for-life Jason Kelce was shown on the scoreboard leading a "Let's Go Flyers!" chant.
Instead, the slick-passing Penguins _ now 14-6-2 in their last 22 games in Philadelphia _ responded by scoring three goals in a 9:56 span.
With 10:36 left in the second, Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak tied it with a point drive that appeared to deflect off Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald and past screened goalie Petr Mrazek. The Flyers challenged, claiming goaltender interference, but the goal stood.
Late in the period, the Flyers made a bad defensive pinch and it led to a two-on-one for Crosby and Sheary. Sheary, who was goal-less in his previous 15 games, scored on the rebound and the Penguins had a 3-2 lead with 5:35 left in the second. He later made it 4-2.
Before the game, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said he wanted his team to be more aggressive than it was at the start of the Jan. 2 game against Pittsburgh at the Wells Fargo Center. The Penguins won that game, 5-1.
"To be blunt, I thought we were too easy to play against in the first period," Hakstol said about that loss two-plus months ago. "We weren't in attack mode."
They weren't in attack mode in the first 20 minutes Wednesday, either. The reason? They could never get into an offensive rhythm because they were too busy trying to kill four penalties in the opening period.
Giving the NHL's best power play so many chances was a recipe for disaster. And on the Penguins' fourth power play of the first period, they finally connected. Evgeni Malkin slid a goal-mouth pass through the legs of defenseman Radko Gudas, and Phil Kessel rammed in his 28th goal of the season, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead with 1:25 to go in the first.
The goal was scored while Oskar Lindblom was in the penalty box for high sticking.
The Flyers had little attack time in the opening period, and they were sloppy on two abbreviated power plays. Their best scoring chance occurred when the teams were at even strength, but Brandon Manning, who was alone in front, deflected Claude Giroux's slick pass wide of rookie goalie Tristan Jarry.
Jarry's counterpart, Mrazek, has allowed 18 goals over his last four games. He surrendered a total of four goals in his first three games with the Flyers.
