The Islanders had a chance for two points but left one on the table in D.C.
The New York Islanders blew a two-goal third-period lead and fell 5-4 in overtime after Jakob Chychrun beat Semyon Varlamov at 1:20 of the overtime period.
Simon Holmstrom had his first two-goal of his career, while Islanders' captain Anders Lee recorded a goal and two assists.
Here's how it happened:
Holmstrom, who skated on the top line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau a late scratch roofed one blocker side on Logan Thompson to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 3:36 of the first:
Anders Lee earned his 200th career assist on the goal.
Just 1:44 later, the Islanders abonded the front of their net and Nic Dowd made them pay, wrapping the puck around Semyon Varlamov's right pad and in from the top of the crease:
The Capitals took a 2-1 lead at 12:10 of the first while on the power play after Tom Wilson was left all alone in the slot for a one-time finish.
Scott Mayfield got caught at the back post while three other Islanders were too late to adjust after some strong puck movement.
The Capitals found themselves on the power play again at 18:09 of the first but the Islanders killed it off early in the second.
Anders Lee tied the game at 2-2 after he deflected a wide Noah Dobson point shot with a tremendous display of hand-eye coordination at 1:15 of the second:
On the goal, 20-year-old defenseman Isaiah George recorded a secondary assists to give him assists in three straight games.
The Capitals believed they had taken a 3-2 lead at 14:05 of the second while on a delayed penalty courtesy of John Carlson, but Patrick Roy challenged for goalie interference and won the call.
Despite a successful challenge by Roy, the Islanders still had a penalty to kill off, which they did.
Just 23 seconds after getting back to 5-on-5, Lee fed Bo Horvat who fed Kyle MacLean for a beatiful tic-tac-toe play to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 16:28 of the second:
That was MacLean's first goal of the season.
Then, Holmstrom scored his second of the game at 18:09 of the middle frame, after he deflected a Dennis Cholowski point shot to extend the Islanders' lead to 4-2:
That was Holmstrom's first career multi-goal game.
The Islanders entered the third period tied or with the lead for the 11th straight game.
Lee took a hooking penalty right off the draw, and Dylan Strome cut the Capitals' deficit to 4-3 at 1:20 of the third:
That was Strome's first power-play goal of the season.
Wilson scored his second of the game at 7:24 of the third after Noah Dobson failed to clear the zone, eventually leaving the Islanders in absolute chaos leading to failed coverage:
Jean-Gabriel Pageau missed the game due to a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
Oliver Wahlstrom got slashed by Dowd at 16:10 of the third but the Islanders could not take advantage.
The game would need overtime.
UP NEXT: Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders host the Buffalo Sabres for the second of a back-to-back for both teams at UBS Arena on Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET.