The Islanders relinquished first place in the East Division as the Capitals’ Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal of a shootout, giving Washington a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders fell one point behind the Capitals, tied for second place with Pittsburgh — which beat the Devils, 5-1. Boston is another three points back in fourth.

Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots through overtime for his second shutout of the season and third of his career. Washington won for the seventh time in 11 games.

Semyon Varlamov, who had a 29-save shutout in the teams’ last meeting on April 6, finished with 28 saves through overtime in this one. However, he gave up two goals on three attempts in the shootout.

After Anthony Beauvilier beat Samsonov with a backhand in the second round of the tiebreaker, Nicklas Backstrom scored off the crossbar and in to tie it. Brock Nelson misfired on the Islanders’ attempt in the third round before Kuznetsov beat Varlamov on the stickside to give the Capitals the win.

“The shootout is a lottery,” Kuznetsov said. “I wonder if I get in, and then I got an open corner.”

The Islanders controlled the puck for most of the extra period, with each team managing one shot on goal. The Capitals also had a shot by Lars Eller go wide.

The two teams meet again Saturday night on Long Island and Tuesday in Washington.

“Both teams played really well tonight,” Beauvillier said. “There was not a lot of space and obviously Varly was really good. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win for him.”

After a Capitals turnover late in the third, Mathew Barzal skated in, got around Dmitry Orlov and skated in on Samsonov but lifted a forehand shot over the goal with 4:15 left.

Varlamov made a save off the shaft of his stick on a shot by Orlov about 2 minutes later. T.J. Oshie had two tries in close from the right side with 1:30 left, but couldn’t get anything past the Islanders’ goalie.

“I think we had a tough first period, but the other 40 minutes we absolutely dominated them,” Kuznetsov said. “We got so many chances, I think that’s how we have to play. I give them credit, they defend well. Both goalies — they play unbelievable, that’s a good rivalry.”

Much like the teams’ last matchup, this game was scoreless after two periods. The Islanders won that previous meeting 1-0 with Nelson scoring the game’s only goal in the third period.

After getting outworked in the first period this time, Washington flipped the script in the second and outshot the Islanders, 14-7.

The Islanders outshot the Capitals, 15-4, in a fast-paced and physical first period. Barzal had the Islanders’ best scoring chance as he skated in alone on Samsonov on a breakaway, but was denied by the Capitals goalie.

“He was really sharp in the first,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said of Samsonov. “Had to make a few good ones in the second, few good ones in the third. … I thought he made some big saves the entire night.”

Washington defenseman Nick Jensen hobbled off the ice midway through the first period after getting hit in his foot by a slap shot from Ryan Pulock. He returned later.