Evgeny Kuznetsov toys with Islanders with two goals in lopsided Capitals win

Evgeny Kuznetsov sat on the bench, laughing, because really, what else could he do?

The rookie center had just effortlessly woven his way through the New York Islanders’ defense, toying with his opponents as if they didn’t exist, before staking the Washington Capitals to a three-goal lead with a silly deke of goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

He could enjoy this one — and so could his teammates.

The goal was the second of the night for Kuznetsov, and linemate Jason Chimera had a goal and an assist, as the Capitals asserted their will in a 5-1 romp at Verizon Center — their most lopsided playoff victory in five years.

“I just want to do my job,” Kuznetsov said. “You play in the game — sometimes you’re bad at your job, sometimes not good, and you just need hard work and stay with the team plan. For me, the team [is a priority]. Goals, points, it’s all about this after.”

Karl Alzner and Brooks Laich also scored, and Braden Holtby had 22 saves for Washington, which will have an opportunity to end the Islanders’ final season at Nassau Coliseum in Game 6 of the team’s first-round playoff series in that building on Saturday.

Not since the Capitals topped the Montreal Canadiens by the same score in the first round in 2010 have they churned out an offensive performance like they did on Thursday. Their previous 16 playoff victories had been by two or fewer goals and 13 were a one-goal margin — including the two others in this series.

The Islanders were on the score sheet first thanks to Josh Bailey, but their effort otherwise was muted. Washington had the 41-23 advantage in shots on goal, won 63 percent of its faceoffs and killed off two power plays. Jaroslav Halak, who had 30 saves, was pulled with nine minutes remaining in favor of former Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth.

“In playoff hockey, it’s kind of just one game,” Alzner said. “I don’t really know if there is such a thing as momentum. … We had a good one, but we know that the next game is even harder and we’re going to have to work even harder if we want to stay in it.”

The explosion didn’t settle in until the third period, when Kuznetsov scored six seconds after the Islanders killed off a Capitals power play. The center took a pass from defenseman Matt Niskanen as Washington’s own blue line, then weaved through the middle of an array of four Islanders players with only defenseman Johnny Boychuk trying to swipe the puck away.

Bailey scored at 5:48 of the first, and Washington didn’t take long to tie it up, with Kuznetsov scoring his first playoff goal just over three minutes later. The center won a faceoff in the offensive zone, then, when Marcus Johansson tried to put back his own rebound attempt, Kuznetsov batted it into the net two feet off the ground at 9:05 to tie the score.

The Capitals then took the lead — rare for them in this series — on Alzner’s goal at 10:31 of the second period. While Halak foiled right wing Troy Brouwer’s first attempt, Brouwer headed around the back of the net and passed the puck Alzner, who flipped it in.

Then Chimera, who also scored in Game 2, topped off the scoring for the Capitals with a screened wrister at 9:00.

The late flurry got under the skin of the Islanders, who were already primed following a hit by Tom Wilson on their defenseman, Lubomir Visnovsky, on Tuesday. Wilson and rookie Anders Lee dropped their gloves at 5:22 of the first period, and Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck were assessed 10-minute misconducts two minutes after Chimera’s goal, hoping to goad Brooks Laich into a fight.

“They got a couple guys thrown out late in the game,” Wilson said. “The thing is, with those, it’s a fresh start next game. We’re getting right back to square one, and we’re going to continue to do the same thing and stick to our system and do our thing.”