It’s typically Sidney Crosby who torments the rival Philadelphia Flyers. But Monday at Wells Fargo Center, Evgeni Malkin did the honors.

Malkin had a sweet assist early and an insurance goal late to power the Penguins to a 4-1 win over the Flyers. In between, it was a dominant night for Malkin, who has steadily been building steam since the NHL’s Christmas break.

They bounced back from Saturday’s frustrating loss to the Buffalo Sabres to win for the ninth time in their last 13 games. They trail the third-place Flyers and New York Islanders by just two points in the Metropolitan standings.

The Penguins lost their first two games against the Flyers this season, which came in back-to-back games last month. Both were decided after regulation.

This time around, Pittsburgh seized control right away and never looked back.

Rickard Rakell, who has scored in five of the last eight games, gave the Penguins the lead just 45 seconds into the game. On that early power play, Malkin made a no-look backhand pass to Rakell, who buried it at the back door.

The Penguins went up two goals about seven minutes later, when Erik Karlsson’s wrister from the point sailed through a crowd and in behind Carter Hart.

Pittsburgh was unable to pad its lead in the first period despite getting five power plays. The Penguins did some good things on those, and at one point, Reilly Smith put one off the post. But they also passed up a few good looks, none more glaring than when Jake Guentzel had Hart down and basically out.

The Flyers converted one of their two power plays in the first. A few seconds after Alex Nedeljkovic got his toe on Sean Couturier’s shot from the slot, Owen Tippett snapped a shot from the right faceoff dot past the Penguins goalie.

That was the only shot the Flyers put past Nedeljkovic, who had another strong performance in Philadelphia. He was named the No. 1 star the last time the Penguins were here, a 2-1 overtime loss to the Flyers on Dec. 4.

Without a bunch of penalties disrupting the flow, the action opened up at 5-on-5 in the second period, much to the chagrin of Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.

Prior to puck drop, Sullivan noted the Flyers have scored a bunch of goals on the counterattack this season, adding that in each of their previous two meetings, the Flyers generated more than 90% of their chances off the rush.

Nedeljkovic and the Penguins weathered a few odd-man rushes in the first half of the second period. Then Chad Ruhwedel restored their two-goal lead.

The defenseman got his first goal of the season when his innocent shot from the blue line squeaked through Hart, whom Tippett screened on the play.

Malkin pushed the lead to 4-1. He beat Hart after putting in a spinning pass from Drew O’Connor. It was Malkin’s third multi-point game since Christmas.

The trio of Malkin, O’Connor and Bryan Rust were on the ice for two of Pittsburgh’s three goals at 5-on-5. Their advanced statistics were exceptional, too.

The resurgence of Malkin, in particular, is welcome as the Penguins look to climb into playoff position. This win put them in a tie for the last wild card spot.

ICE CHIPS—With Phil Bourque sidelined due to an illness, Michelle Crechiolo did the color commentary on the radio broadcast alongside Steve Mears. She became the first female broadcaster to call a regular-season game for Pittsburgh.

—Smith spent Monday’s game on the third line, playing alongside Lars Eller and Valtteri Puustinen. The slumping winger ended up having one of his better games in a while offensively. O’Connor took his place on the second line.

—Radim Zohorna and Ryan Shea were again the scratches for the Penguins.

—Things got chippy in the third period. Guentzel was in obvious pain on the bench after a hard hit by Nicolas Deslauriers sent him crashing into the boards in front of the Penguins bench. Moments later, Kris Letang took a high stick to the forehead. Blood trickled down his face as Letang headed in for repairs.

COMING UPThe Penguins have a scheduled day off Tuesday. They will practice Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s home game against the Vancouver Canucks.