Isles, Caps begin season series trending in opposite directions

Scoring two goals in a span of fewer than four minutes Saturday night vaulted the New York Islanders into a wild-card spot -- and inched them closer to the Washington Capitals, whose inability to stop two-goal flurries has tightened the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Postseason implications will already be looming Monday night when the Islanders host the Capitals in Elmont, N.Y. in the first game this season between th