NEW YORK -- The Nashville Predators looked Monday night like a team that has been in playoff mode for two-plus weeks. The New York Islanders looked like a team that has spent too many weeks in playoff mode.

Kevin Fiala's first-period goal gave the Predators a lead they didn't relinquish in a 3-1 win over the Islanders in a game with postseason implications for both conferences at Barclays Center.

Viktor Arvidsson scored in the second period and Ryan Johansen added an empty-netter with 20.5 seconds left for the Predators (39-25-11), who won their fourth straight and improved to 7-1-0 in eight games dating to March 11.

"We're starting to make some ground, playing better hockey," Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "I think going into the playoffs, we ought to be playing at the best level (they) can. Tonight, I felt we took another step in the right direction."

The win allowed the Predators to remain one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division. The Blues beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1.

The Predators and Blues both appear safely in the playoff field -- the Blues and Calgary Flames are tied for the two wild-card spots, 11 points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings -- but a first-round series with the free-falling Minnesota Wild would likely be a more inviting opportunity than a potential date with the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead the Western Conference with 103 points.

The Wild, which is 2-7-1 in its last 10 games, is six points ahead of the Predators. The two teams play each other Saturday.

"We're obviously not in the playoffs yet, we haven't clinched anything," Johansen said. "We're still scratching and clawing to get a spot and maybe some home ice advantage. I like the way we're trending, though."

The Islanders, who have lost two straight and three of four, are trending in the wrong direction after a furious scramble back into the playoff picture.

New York (35-28-12), which had a chance to take sole possession of the second wild card Saturday but lost 2-1 to the Boston Bruins, remained two points behind the idle Bruins on Monday but fell into 10th place in the Eastern Conference when the Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime.

"Going into every game like if you don't win, you're going to be passed by three teams or you're going to be out of the playoffs, it's exhausting," interim Islanders head coach Doug Weight said. "But it's exciting too. So we've got to find a way to get to them in a better fashion. We haven't done it in the last couple games."

The Islanders were in last place in the 16-team Eastern Conference when Weight was named interim head coach on Jan. 17 but went 13-5-2 in their first 20 games under Weight. New York is just 5-6-2 since March 3, a stretch in which it has scored two goals or fewer six times.

"We've played a lot of hockey and been emotionally invested for six weeks now trying to get back into this," Weight said. "It's not an excuse, it's just tough to do. We've got to find a way to do it."

The Predators appeared to have fresher legs for most of Monday night, when the announced crowd of 11,671 grew so frustrated with the Islanders that it briefly began a chant of "LET'S GO METS!"

New York mounted few threats against backup goalie Juuse Saros (24 saves), whose bid for a shutout ended when Josh Bailey got a stick on Nick Leddy's shot and redirected the puck with 2:40 left in the second period.

"I liked the way we played tonight, I thought we were really good defensively, really good through the neutral zone," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "Good road win, good defensive win."

The Islanders came closest to tying the score in the third period fewer than seven minutes in, when Bailey fed Calvin De Haan in the crease before Saros made a kick save of De Haan's point-blank shot.

"Obviously, we're going to have to win some games and probably get some help at this point," Bailey said.

Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss had 28 saves.

NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Johnny Boychuk (lower body), LW Nikolay Kulemin (upper body) and C Ryan Strome (broken wrist) as well as G Jean-Francois Berube, D Scott Mayfield and C Shane Prince. ... The Predators scratched C Mike Fisher (lower body), who didn't travel with the team for its brief two-game, two-day road trip, and D Yannick Weber (lower body) as well as D Brad Hunt, RW PA Parenteau and LW Harry Zolnierczyk. ... The Islanders and Predators were the only NHL teams not to face each other before Monday. They conclude the season series next Tuesday in Nashville.