Dylan Strome and Rasmus Sandin scored 27 seconds apart as the Washington Capitals took control just over a minute into the first period and never let up to beat the visiting New York Islanders 5-2 on Monday night.

The Islanders (41-31-9, 91 points) still occupy the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot and are one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh has two games left against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Islanders conclude the regular season at home Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Islanders are also one point behind the Florida Panthers, whose 36 regulation wins give them the tiebreaker over New York.

Craig Smith also scored in the first period as Washington (35-36-9, 79 points) snapped its six-game losing streak. Tom Wilson and Strome added empty-net goals in the final four-plus minutes of the game.

Hudson Fasching and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders, who were coming off lopsided home wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers by a combined 10-1 margin.

The Capitals played with 17 skaters due to salary-cap restraints along with injuries to star Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Anthony Mantha, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Nic Dowd.

Washington's Darcy Kuemper made 15 of his 38 saves in the third period to stop a personal five-game losing streak.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin finished with 20 saves.

Washington opened the scoring after Sorokin was unable to corral the rebound of a Wilson slap shot. Defenseman Adam Pelech misplayed the puck in front of the net and Strome released a shot from the right circle that went by Sorokin's left arm 36 seconds into the game.

On the next shift, the Capitals opened a 2-0 lead when Sandin ripped a shot from the left circle that trickled past Sorokin's left arm at 1:03 of the first.

Washington opened a three-goal lead at the 13:13 mark shortly after New York defenseman Ryan Pulock lost the puck near the neutral zone. The Capitals moved the puck to the left corner and Martin Fehervary centered it for Smith, who was all alone for a one-timer from in front.

Fasching scored when he beat Sandin to a loose puck at the left side of the crease and slipped the puck by Kuemper with 5:08 remaining in the third. After Wilson's goal, Cizikas converted a cross-ice pass from Sebastian Aho with 3:17 left, but Strome finished it off with his second goal at 18:50 to seal it.

--Field Level Media