Capitals juggernaut takes No. 1

The Capitals, entering Tuesday's action, were just one victory shy of their total for their season of 1974-75. Think about that for a few seconds. Percentage-wise, their 8-67-5 record remains the worst in NHL history (.131). Their road record was 1-39-0. Even some prison teams had better road marks than that. What a difference 37 years makes. Your 2011-12 Washington Capitals are your top-ranked team in the latest SI.com NHL Power Rankings, and why not? They entered the cutoff period at 7-0-0, including a 7-1 victory over the previous No. 1 team, Detroit. NOTE: All records and stats are through games of Monday, Oct. 24.

Without further ado, here is further rationale for the Caps' primo rank and the 29 teams behind them:

NHL Power Rankings