WASHINGTON -- Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 shots, right winger Phil Kessel scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Right winger Beau Bennett also scored early in the third period and center Nick Bonino added an empty-netter for Pittsburgh (5-4), which has won five of six.

Center Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his fourth goal of the season and goalie Braden Holtby made 22 saves for Washington (6-2), which had won five straight.

Kessel broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal of the season at 3:49 of the third when center Evgeny Malkin slid a pass into the slot that Kessel poked past Holtby.

Kuznetsov gave Washington a 1-0 lead 1:28 into the period when his shot deflected off the skate of defenseman Rob Scuderi and got between Fleury's pads.

Pittsburgh, playing their first game against a Metropolitan Division opponent, tied it just 24 seconds later when Bennett, back after missing five games, banged home his own rebound.

The Capitals scored 24 goals during their five-game winning streak.

Fleury has offset the Penguins lack of offense lately, and that was the case again in the first period.

First, he made a pad save on right winger T.J. Oshie, who was alone in front, on a rebound. Then, late in the period, a prone Fleury stretched out his hand to block a shot during a scrum in front.

At the other end, consecutive penalties to Washington center Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Brooks Orpik gave the Penguins a two-man advantage for 1:45. Though they controlled the puck for much of that time, only two shots were on net.

After the power play, right winger Pascal Dupuis banged a loose puck past Holtby from the slot, but the goal was waved off due to a hand pass.

Washington outshot Pittsburgh 14-4 in the second period, but Fleury kept it scoreless.

The Capitals had a two power plays in the stanza, but Fleury stopped Oshie from point blank range on the first one, and did the same to left winger Marcus Johansson on during the second.

NOTES: Penguins F Beau Bennett (undisclosed injury) returned after missing five games. ... Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov was named the NHL's "First Star" for the week ending Oct. 25 after posting three goals and six assists in three games. ... D Sergei Gonchar, who spent 10 seasons with Washington and five with Pittsburgh, joined the Penguins' staff as defensemen development coach. ... Capitals G Braden Holtby and Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury have faced each other seven times, with Fleury winning four. ... Penguins D Kris Letang became just the fourth defenseman in franchise history to play 500 games with the team. ... Pittsburgh scratches included D Adam Clendening and LW Sergei Plotnikov. C Michael Latta, RW Stanislav Galiev and D Nate Schmidt were scratched for Washington.