The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins square off in a battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division when they face each other in Elmont, N.Y., on Monday.

As the clubs meet with one point separating them, the Islanders (42-27-5, 89 points) are on a mini two-game winning streak, and the Penguins (36-21-16, 88 points) are battling double trouble — an uneven stretch of games without two of their offensive catalysts.

The Islanders are coming off a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, when they erased a two-goal deficit by scoring five goals in the second period.

“The rest of the games are playoff games,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “They’re big games for us, big points, and we need all the wins we can get.”

New York has won three of its last four games, with positive signs all over.

Brayden Schenn, acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline, scored a goal in a three-point game Saturday, his first multi-point performance since the move.

Matthew Schaefer, the rising star drafted first overall last summer, collected a pair of assists to tie the team record for points by a rookie defenseman (56, set by Stefan Persson in 1977-78).

With the likes of Horvat and Mat Barzal held off the scoresheet for New York, Marc Gatcomb emerged to snap a 36-game goal drought.

“We just keep sticking to the gameplan,” Gatcomb said. “We’ve been great with comebacks and stuff like that. We’ve been staying resilient. I think the main focus was just getting pucks on net. We got some good bounces there, and they just started going in.”

The Penguins, meanwhile, have lost three of four games, with the latest setback a 6-3 home loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

Pittsburgh surrendered leads of 1-0 and 2-1 en route to the defeat, although the game was not as one-sided as the final score indicated. Dallas netted a pair of empty-net goals after the Penguins made it a 4-3 affair midway through the final period.

“We had a great start,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “I thought we were in their face. We had some really good shifts. Got into penalty trouble. I think that hurt us. I don’t think we did a very good job of playing hard and simple to get that momentum back on our side.”

The Penguins are hoping for reinforcements to turn their fortunes in a hurry. Captain and leading scorer Sidney Crosby missed the Dallas game due to a lower-body injury. Evgeni Malkin has missed three games due to an upper-body issue.

They both practiced Sunday without contact jerseys, which bodes well.

“Guys have to take on different responsibilities, different minutes, you know, from maybe what they’ve had in the past,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “Obviously, with Sid and with Geno, not one person is going to go in there and suddenly replace them. All these things have to be done by committee.”

Defenseman Erik Karlsson has elevated his play of late. Karlsson has posted consecutive games with one goal and two assists. He has netted two or more points in nine March games and collected 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 15 games this month.

–Field Level Media

Seth Lugo pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Bobby Witt Jr. hit safely for the third straight game to help the visiting Kansas City Royals defeat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Sunday and salvage a win in the three-game series.

The victory helped the Royals avoid their first sweep since June 24-26 against Tampa Bay.

Lugo (1-0) allowed five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three. Lucas Erceg pitched the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.

Witt was 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run and an RBI, his first of the season. He hit .364 for the series, going 4-for-11. He turned a double play in the ninth inning to end the game.

The losing pitcher was Grant Holmes (0-1), who pitched five innings and allowed three runs on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Rookie Didier Fuentes worked the final four innings and allowed one run on two hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

In the third inning, Kansas City’s Nick Loftin appeared to have grounded into a double play, but the play was challenged and reversed, allowing Loftin to remain on first base. He took third on a throwing error by Jorge Mateo and scored on a single by Witt. The Royals had been 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Kansas City added a solo homer from Carter Jensen in the fourth. It was Jensen’s first homer and settled in the first row of the seats in right field.

The Royals upped the lead to 3-0 with a run in the fifth. Vinnie Pasquantino singled home Nick Loftin, who opened the inning with a double.

Kansas City added an insurance run in the eighth inning. Witt led off with a walk and came around to score on Jensen’s sacrifice fly.

The Braves spoiled the shutout in the eighth inning as Drake Baldwin, who homered on opening night, drilled a solo shot off reliever John Schreiber.

–Field Level Media

Jesus Sanchez hit a two-run home run Sunday afternoon as the Toronto Blue Jays went deep three times to defeat the visiting Athletics 5-2.

George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto hit solo shots for the Blue Jays, who swept the three-game season-opening series.

Max Muncy hit a two-run home run for the Athletics, who struck out 50 times in the series.

After Toronto left-hander Eric Lauer (1-0) struck out the side in the first, Springer led off the home first with a home run to left on a first-pitch fastball from Luis Morales (0-1). It was his 64th career leadoff homer.

Tyler Heineman singled with one out in the third and Sanchez lined a homer to center with two out.

Okamoto led off the fourth with a home run to right center on a 1-0 fastball. It was his first major league homer after being signed as a free agent from Japan.

The Athletics struck back in the fifth. Jacob Wilson led off with a double to left center, the Athletics first hit of the game and his first hit of the season. Muncy followed by homering to right on a first-pitch fastball.

Morales had two walks and a strikeout in the home fifth before J.T. Ginn replaced him. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded a single to left to load the bases. Ginn walked Addison Barger to force in a run. Okamoto bounced into a double play to end the rally.

Morales allowed five runs, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Braydon Fisher replaced Lauer after Nick Kurtz’s one-out single in the sixth.

Lauer allowed two runs, three hits and a walk while striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings.

Fisher retired five straight before Tommy Nance took over in the eighth. Mason Fluharty replaced Nance after Shea Langeliers singled with two out and ended the inning with a strikeout.

Jeff Hoffman pitched around a single in the ninth to earn his first save in two opportunities.

Ginn gave the Athletics’ beleaguered bullpen a break, allowing a single and a walk in 3 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media