COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Washington Capitals moved closer to winning the Metropolitan Division, finishing atop the Eastern Conference and claiming the Presidents' Trophy.

The first-place Capitals (52-18-8) began the final week of the regular season with a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night in an intensely played, playoff-type game before a sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena.

The Capitals extended their lead in the division and atop the conference standings to five points over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who moved past the Blue Jackets (49-21-8) into the second place with a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes earlier in the day.

Washington staggered Columbus with three goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period and held off a third-period rush by the Blue Jackets. The Capitals bounced back from a 6-3 loss at Arizona on Friday night in the middle of a season-long, five-game road trip that ends Tuesday night in Toronto.

Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby finished with 35 saves in bouncing back from the disaster against the Coyotes and posted his 41st victory to tie Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for the league lead in wins.

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist, T.J. Oshie produced his 33rd goal and Matt Niskanen added a goal for the Capitals. Nicklas Backstrom contributed an assist for his 17th point in the past 11 games.

"Both teams are really hungry for the win," Burakovsky said. "You do whatever it takes to win the game. We're both fighting for that first spot and the Presidents' Trophy. It's a four-point game (in the standings). It was a fun game to play."

The Blue Jackets dropped their third straight game, their longest losing streak of the season, in part because their offense continues to struggle. They were the only team in the league to not have a skid longer than two games this season.

"We just haven't scored," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "It's tough to win when you're scoring that one goal, two goals. Tonight, it's a state of finishing. I thought we had enough chances."

The Blue Jackets tried to rally in the third period. Jack Johnson scored the first Columbus goal at 9:22 of the third to end Holtby's shutout bid and Kyle Quincey made it 3-2 with his sixth goal with a shot from inside the blue line with 4:27 remaining.

But the Blue Jackets left the puck on the doorstop with 1:01 remaining during a scrum in front of the Capitals' net and Washington held on in the chippy game that included several dust-ups in front of both goalies.

"We allowed them to play they wanted to and that was the result of a 3-0 game" after two periods, Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. "That was playoff hockey. Those were the fun games to play. Guys stepped up and I thought guys played hard."

Oshie broke through against Bobrovsky early in the second period. The Capitals right winger skated in front of the crease and lifted a backhander past the goalie's blocker at 1:12.

"Nickie (Backstrom) threw it over and created the whole thing," Oshie said. "I found a hole inside his blocker, which is a little lucky, but got the puck there."

Less than two minutes later, the Capitals opened a 2-0 lead when Lars Eller centered a pass from behind the net and Burakovsky went top shelf to make it 2-0 at 2:56 of the second period.

"I was more focused to get a shot off," Burakovsky said. "I didn't even look at the goal. I was just trying to get it up there. I didn't even see it go in."

Niskanen's fifth goal boosted the lead to 3-0 at 10:05 of the second.

But the Capitals couldn't get anything past Bobrovsky in the final 30 minutes of the game. He finished with 27 saves.

"It's great to have those games in the regular season," Bobrovsky said. "That's what we're going to face (in the playoffs)."

Oshie was encouraged by the Capitals' effort on the road after the bad outing at Arizona.

"It was tight. I thought we controlled the game for the most part," he said. "We're working on our game right now and I think tonight was a good step."

NOTES: Blue Jackets D Zach Werenski took a check from Capitals F Alex Ovechkin early in the third period and did not return. ... Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky was named the NHL's second star for March. He posted a 9-1-1 record with a .967 save percentage, 1.09 goals-against average and four shutouts during the month. ... In the previous nine games before Sunday, the Blue Jackets were 0 of 17 on the power play. ... The Capitals' 6-3 loss at Arizona on Friday night snapped a six-game win streak and eight-game points streak. ... Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom leads the NHL in points since Jan. 1. ... Ovechkin is two goals from tying Guy Lafleur (560) for 25th place on the NHL list. ... Blue Jackets C Lukas Sedlak suffered an upper-body injury in the second period on Friday night at Chicago and was scratched against the Capitals.