Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Evgeni Malkin had a goal and three assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins held on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, at Mellon Arena to remain in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.

Petr Sykora chipped in with a goal and two assists, while Kristopher Letang added a goal and a helper for the Penguins, who have won three straight and five of their last seven. Sergei Gonchar also tallied in the win.

Ty Conklin stopped 27-of-30 shots for Pittsburgh, which is three points ahead of second-place New Jersey and four in front of Philadelphia. The Penguins had lost each of the first four meetings with the Flyers this season.

R.J. Umberger led the Flyers with two goals, while Scott Hartnell added one. Philadelphia, which could have tied Pittsburgh for the division lead with a regulation victory, has dropped three in a row and four of its last six.

Martin Biron made 21 saves in defeat.

With the Penguins holding a 3-1 lead after two periods, Umberger's second goal of the contest 46 seconds into the third made it a one-goal game.

"I would trade two goals for the two points," Umberger said. "They are playing real well without (Sidney) Crosby in the line-up and are playing a team game."

Pittsburgh regained the two-goal edge with 7:46 remaining. Malkin, from the left half-wall, found Letang at the right point. Letang skated in and fired a wrister from the circle, making it a 4-2 game.

With the Flyers skating with the extra attacker in the last minute of play, Hartnell scored off Conklin's turnover to make it a 4-3 game with 33 ticks left.

Philadelphia then pulled the goaltender again, but was unable to get the equalizer.

"We wanted to stay out of the box because their power play is really part of their game," Penguins left wing Ryan Malone said. "We wanted to play five on five and see what happens. When we play five on five we have confidence we can play with anybody."

The Flyers opened the scoring 6:34 into the contest while on the power play. With Maxime Talbot serving a double-minor for slashing and roughing, the Flyers went to work with the man-advantage. Randy Jones kept the puck in Philadelphia's offensive zone and dished to Jeff Carter in the low left circle. Carter's attempted pass was blocked by a Penguins' defender, but Umberger jumped on the rebound and deposited it high into the net, giving the visitors the early lead.

Sykora tied the contest at 1-1 with 3:40 left in the opening period. Malkin skated the puck down the left side and into the Penguins' offensive zone, taking two defenders with him, then made a nice pass to Sykora at the top of the left circle. Sykora's wrist shot beat Biron high to the stick side to even the contest.

The Penguins tallied 38 seconds into the second stanza while on the power play. Gonchar's soft wrist shot got through a maze of players and went over the left shoulder of Biron to put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1.

Malkin's goal with 1:17 left in the frame gave the Pens a two-goal advantage heading into the second intermission.