The NHL's biggest early-season surprises are still...surprising.

The Minnesota Wild missed the Western Conference playoffs last spring and the Washington Capitals were among the last Eastern entrants into the tournament and a quick out, losing four straight games to the top-seeded New York Rangers.

So, it's logical that neither factored into this fall's preseason predictions.

However, here we are within days of Christmas and not only have the Wild and Capitals become factors, they're arguably the biggest ones in the 32-team field.

They're ranked 1-2 in points percentage through the league's first two months and occupy the same positions in the B/R Power Rankings for the second straight week after a razor-thin polling session.

The Wild got four first-place votes but were placed fourth on the final ballot, which, combined with Washington's four second places and one first place, yielded a one-point final margin for Minnesota.

Vegas, Winnipeg and Carolina finished in spots three through five, respectively, with the Golden Knights and Jets each climbing a spot and the Hurricanes leaping three from No. 8 to No. 5.

Elsewhere, the Utah Hockey Club was the highest climber with a nine-spot spike from 26th to 17th, while the Anaheim Ducks sank seven places from No. 21 to No. 28.

Votes were cast that awarded 32 points for first place all the way down to a single point for No. 32. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.

*Votes were tallied after games played on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

32. Nashville Predators

Previous Ranking: 31

Overall Record: 7-16-6

Every week seems to be a bad-to-worse situation for the Predators, and it's no different this time thanks to an eight-game losing streak since November 25. Additionally, defenseman Roman Josi left Tuesday's game with Calgary in the first period and didn't return.

31. Chicago Blackhawks

Previous Ranking: 32

Overall Record: 9-17-2

Interim coach Anders Sorensen got on the winning side of the ledger for the first time on Monday when the Blackhawks beat the Rangers, 2-1, in New York. The victory ended a five-game skid and was his second time behind the bench since replacing Luke Richardson on December 5.

30. San Jose Sharks

Previous Ranking: 29

Overall Record: 10-16-5

The Sharks were surging for a few weeks, but it's been back to reality in a three-game losing streak that yielded just four goals. Their 2.71 goals per game is 24th in the league. Only two San Jose players, Tyler Toffoli (11) and Mikael Granlund (10) have double-digit goals.

29. Montreal Canadiens

Previous Ranking: 30

Overall Record: 11-14-3

So far, Patrik Laine has been everything the Canadiens intended upon acquiring him from Columbus during the summer. The 26-year-old winger has three goals, all on the power play, since returning from a preseason knee injury that kept him shelved until December 3.

28. Anaheim Ducks

Previous Ranking: 21

Overall Record: 10-12-4

The Ducks dipped below .500 to begin December thanks to a three-game losing streak in which they were outscored 12-4. Anaheim had been held to one or zero goals in eight of 26 games through Tuesday and was 30th in the league with 2.42 goals per game.

27. Buffalo Sabres

Previous Ranking: 24

Overall Record: 11-14-4

It's a long way from springtime, but the Sabres show no signs of ending the NHL's longest playoff drought. Buffalo is 2-5-3 in its last 10 games, including Wednesday night's 3-2 loss to the Rangers at home.

"We've got to, again, look in the mirror and understand where we're at and at what point in the season we're at here," winger Jason Zucker said.

26. Detroit Red Wings

Previous Ranking: 27

Overall Record: 11-13-4

Former first-round pick Sebastian Cossa picked up a win in his NHL debut on Monday in Buffalo when he stopped 12 of 14 shots in relief of Ville Husso. The 22-year-old, picked 15th overall in 2021, is the 11th goalie in Red Wings history to earn a win in his first career game.

25. Pittsburgh Penguins

Previous Ranking: 22

Overall Record: 12-14-4

Four straight wins spiked the optimism after a poor start in Pittsburgh, but it was tempered by two losses in three subsequent games in which the Penguins allowed 12 goals. The team's 3.80 goals-against average for the season was last in the league through Tuesday's games.

24. Ottawa Senators

Previous Ranking: 28

Overall Record: 13-13-2

Don't look now, but the Ottawa Senators are at NHL .500 after a hat trick from Drake Batherson paced the Sens to a home win over Anaheim Wednesday night.

Linus Ullmark is starting to round into form, winning his last three starts and surrendering just one goal in each game.

23. New York Islanders

Previous Ranking: 25

Overall Record: 11-12-7

A losing blip has turned into a skid for the Islanders, whose 3-4-2 stretch has dropped them below .500. Ilya Sorokin has posted at least a .900 save percentage in five of his last seven starts, but the team's 2.67 goals per game since November 25 is 22nd in the league.

22. Columbus Blue Jackets

Previous Ranking: 19

Overall Record: 12-13-3

The Blue Jackets opened a five-game road trip with a win at Chicago before going 1-3-0 the rest of the way and dropping a 5-3 decision to Philadelphia in Tuesday's return home. Their 4.00 goals-against average since December 3 was tied for 29th in the league through Tuesday.

21. New York Rangers

Previous Ranking: 15

Overall Record: 15-12-1

Is there some light at the end of the tunnel for the Rangers?

They're 3-7-0 in their last 10 and lost to struggling Chicago at home on Monday, but stopped the bleeding with a Wednesday night win in Buffalo. Adam Fox finally scored his first goal of the season, a rare empty-net goal that proved to be the game-winner late.

20. Philadelphia Flyers

Previous Ranking: 17

Overall Record: 13-12-4

The Flyers were an above-.500 team on the road last season and they've continued that prowess in 2024-25. A 5-3 win at Columbus on Tuesday lifted them to 5-0-2 in their last seven away from Philadelphia and 7-4-3 overall on the road.

19. Seattle Kraken

Previous Ranking: 23

Overall Record: 14-14-2

A three-wins-in-four-games stretch was nice, but the measuring stick came in a 2-1 home loss to defending champions Florida Panthers on Tuesday, in which the Kraken managed just 18 shots while allowing 34. Seattle was tied for 25th in shots per game through Tuesday.

18. St. Louis Blues

Previous Ranking: 20

Overall Record: 14-13-2

There's reason aplenty for optimism in St. Louis after the Blues went 3-1-0 on a Western swing and improved to 5-1-1 since hiring Jim Montgomery as coach on November 25.

"Confidence in making plays," center Robert Thomas said. "Some of our young guys have taken big steps."

17. Utah Hockey Club

Previous Ranking: 26

Overall Record: 12-11-5

Consistency has at least begun to arrive for the artists formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes, who've earned points in six of seven games while going 4-1-2. A shootout loss to visiting Minnesota on Tuesday preceded a two-game trip to Colorado and San Jose.

16. Boston Bruins

Previous Ranking: 18

Overall Record: 15-12-3

A four-game win streak in which they'd scored 17 goals came to a screeching halt on Tuesday in Winnipeg, where the Bruins were on the wrong end of an 8-1 blowout.

"They were good and we were not good," captain Brad Marchand said.

15. Calgary Flames

Previous Ranking: 12

Overall Record: 14-10-5

It took a trip to Nashville to end an extended road drought for the Flames, who took a 4-3 decision on Tuesday. Calgary was 0-5-3 in its eight previous road games and just 1-4-2 in their last seven overall. The Flames will play their next five games at home.

14. Colorado Avalanche

Previous Ranking: 16

Overall Record: 17-13-0

Transition has yielded success for the Avalanche, whose deals for goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood have coincided with a 4-2-0 run and three consecutive wins. Wedgewood is 3-1-0 with a 1.59 goals-against average since arriving from Nashville.

13. Tampa Bay Lightning

Previous Ranking: 13

Overall Record: 14-10-2

The Lightning reached the halfway point of a four-game western trip with a win at Vancouver and a loss at Edmonton. They'll visit Calgary and Seattle before returning to Florida to begin a three-game road trip on December 17. Jake Guentzel has four goals and an assist in his last four games and scored once each against the Canucks and Oilers.

12. Vancouver Canucks

Previous Ranking: 10

Overall Record: 14-8-5

It's the season of high-profile returns for the Canucks, who welcomed goalie Thatcher Demko for his 2024-25 debut on Tuesday and should soon get J.T. Miller back from a leave of absence that has kept him off the ice since November 19.

11. Edmonton Oilers

Previous Ranking: 14

Overall Record: 16-10-2

It's not been all about the blowouts this season for the Oilers, who are 6-1-2 in games decided by one goal after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat of Tampa Bay. Edmonton won three in a row and six of seven to climb within five points of first-place Vegas in the Pacific through Tuesday.

10. New Jersey Devils

Previous Ranking: 6

Overall Record: 18-10-3

The Devils are elite when it comes to scoring goals (3.32 per game), but they've been stymied in two straight, netting just one across 120 minutes and an OT period while losing to Colorado (4-0) and Toronto (2-1). New Jersey is 1-2-0 to start a five-game homestand.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs

Previous Ranking: 7

Overall Record: 17-9-2

Count Auston Matthews among the few players excited to see New Jersey on the schedule. The generational sniper scored an OT game-winner on Tuesday and has 29 points in 20 games against the Devils. He has four goals in December after not scoring in November.

8. Dallas Stars

Previous Ranking: 3

Overall Record: 17-10-0

There's nothing like a four-goal third period to change the momentum and that's precisely what happened with the Stars, who used the late surge to defeat Calgary on Sunday and ended a two-game skid that had included one-goal losses at Los Angeles and Vegas.

7. Florida Panthers

Previous Ranking: 11

Overall Record: 18-9-2

When the captain is on, the champs are on. And Aleksander Barkov is definitely on. The 29-year-old Finn has five goals and five assists in his last seven games, and the Panthers are 6-0-1 across that same stretch, most recently winning 2-1 in a Tuesday visit to Seattle.

6. Los Angeles Kings

Previous Ranking: 9

Overall Record: 17-8-3

There's no hotter team in the league than the Kings of Los Angeles, who won five straight at home before opening a seven-game road trip with a 3-1 victory against the Islanders in New York. The Kings were 22-15-4 away from home in 2023-24 and have started 7-6-2 this season.

5. Carolina Hurricanes

Previous Ranking: 8

Overall Record: 18-9-1

It's a gradual climb back to consistency for the Hurricanes, who've gone 2-1-0 in three games after a three-game losing skid in which they'd been outscored, 16-5. Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov started the three most recent games and stopped 58 of 67 shots (.866 save percentage).

4. Winnipeg Jets

Previous Ranking: 5

Overall Record: 21-9-0

The Jets experienced their first real plummet with four consecutive losses through last week's rankings period but rebounded nicely with three wins in four subsequent games, during which they scored 16 goals overall and eight in a rout of Boston. Winger Kyle Connor has three goals and seven points in the last four games.

3. Vegas Golden Knights

Previous Ranking: 4

Overall Record: 18-7-3

The return of captain Mark Stone coincided with a defeat of Dallas that extended a Vegas win streak to three straight and a successful stretch to 7-1-1 in its last nine games. The Golden Knights have allowed 21 goals since November 21, tied for third-fewest in the league.

2. Washington Capitals

Previous Ranking: 2

Overall Record: 19-6-2

A 4-2 win at Montreal was Washington's ninth in a row on the road, extending a franchise record and improving its overall road mark to 11-2-0. The Capitals are 6-0-1 in their last seven overall and 6-2-1 without Alex Ovechkin, who's sidelined with a broken left leg.

1. Minnesota Wild

Previous Ranking: 1

Overall Record: 19-5-4

Winger Kirill Kaprizov, 27, was on career-high paces for goals (54), assists (75) and points (129) through Tuesday's games, and his long-term future in Minnesota is on the mind of Wild owner Craig Leipold.

"It's an important part of our strategic plan to get him signed for as long as we can," he said.