PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Sullivan called it his team's "most complete game" of the season.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

Facing their archrival on the road in a playoff atmosphere, the Pittsburgh Penguins dealt a blow to the Philadelphia Flyers while increasing their wild-card lead with a commanding 4-1 win at a boisterous Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

"When we play that way, we're hard to play against," Sullivan said. "This obviously was an important game for both teams."

The Penguins (39-24-8) reeled off three straight goals in the second period and kept the Flyers quiet in the third to win their fifth straight. With the victory, Pittsburgh jumped to six points ahead of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot.

The Penguins, winners in nine of their last 12, also picked up their first win in Philadelphia since Oct. 17, 2013.

"This is a big game for us," said Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby, who had two assists to extend his point streak to 11 games. "We knew coming in it would be a tough environment and atmosphere."

The Flyers (34-24-12) took a step back in their push for the East's final playoff seed. Philadelphia, which entered 8-1-1 in its last 10 games, came into Saturday one point behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot.

"I think (the Penguins) played a good hockey game," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "It was a day where we couldn't find any energy and just couldn't get ourselves going in the right direction. It comes at a bad time and against the wrong team."

Pittsburgh has taken both meetings from Philadelphia this season with two more remaining.

"Especially at this point, we can't be throwing games away like that," Flyers goaltender Steve Mason said.

Crosby now has 18 points over his 11-game spurt. Kris Letang iced the game with an empty-netter while goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves for his 26th career win over Philadelphia.

Mason made 31 saves in a spot start. In a statement after the game, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said goalie Michal Neuvirth didn't play because he "wasn't feeling right."

Mason said he found out he was starting "about 20 minutes before warmups."

"That's why you're always trying to be prepared," Mason said.

It took just one minute and one second of trailing for the Penguins to take their game to another level and grab control.

After falling behind 1-0 early in the second period, Pittsburgh promptly drew even when a Nick Bonino shot took a diagonal bounce to the right of Mason and on the stick of Trevor Daley, who squeezed it top shelf between the post at 2:59.

Bonino delivered again with just over three minutes left in the middle stanza. Flyers right winger Ryan White lost the puck along the boards where Bonino gained possession and hit Carl Hagelin between the circles for a slap shot and 2-1 Penguins' advantage.

"It's obviously a divisional game," Hagelin said. "We know we need to get two points, it's a four-point game and we just come in with the mindset that we need to win."

Pittsburgh then took the air out of the building with 1:35 remaining in the second when, off a bad Philadelphia turnover, Chris Kunitz fired a shot that bounced directly off the back boards and to the back of Mason's leg pad and into the net for a 3-1 lead at second intermission.

The Penguins shut the door in the third period, improving to 32-0-0 when taking a lead into the final stanza.

"That was probably the best we've done with a lead like that in the third," Crosby said. "We've got to continue that."

Unlikely suspect Rakdo Gudas scored a goal for the Flyers, but that was all they could muster.

"(The Penguins) played a solid game," Mason said. "They deserved to win."

NOTES: Flyers RW Jakub Voracek returned to the lineup after missing nine straight games with a lower-body injury. Voracek replaced C Chris VandeVelde, who was out serving the first game of a two-game suspension for elbowing Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews on Wednesday. ... Penguins C Oskar Sundqvist was inserted into the lineup after being recalled on Friday from American Hockey League affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Sundqvist appeared in his 11th career NHL game after making his debut on Feb. 5. ... C R.J. Umberger and D Evgeny Medvedev were healthy scratches for the Flyers. ... Penguins D Ben Lovejoy remained out with an upper-body injury and is considered day to day. Lovejoy has not played since Feb. 20 after appearing in 60 games. ... D Derrick Pouliot and G Jeff Zatkoff were healthy scratches for the Penguins.