It’s getting late early.

That notion applies to several AHL teams just a little more than two months into the regular season.

On Dec. 19 of last season, the Bridgeport Islanders, Laval Rocket, Chicago Wolves, and Bakersfield Condors all sat last in their respective divisions. Of that quartet, only the Condors managed to rally to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Laval managed to remain in the playoff fight until the final weekend of the regular season, but it took an excellent second half to bring the Rocket back into contention.

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One year later, there are again teams whose slow starts have put their seasons and postseason chances in peril. That’s the bad news for them. The good news for these clubs is that the AHL’s expanded 23-team playoff field does provide grace to even teams that go through a poor start. And this is also a league of streaks and intensive head-to-head play among divisional opponents. Those two elements can enable a team to make up ground, especially with four more months still to go.

Just get into the postseason and anything can happen.

Bridgeport Islanders (5-17-2-2 – 14 points out of a playoff spot and yielding one game in hand)

Maybe the Islanders would have something to build on after a difficult start.

That thought was a reasonable one in mid-November when they visited Hershey and thumped the defending Calder Cup champion, 6-1. A night later, they dealt Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 5-2 loss. For a team that had opened its season with a 2-9-1-1 record, it was the kind of weekend that could change a season.

That has not happened, however. Since that weekend, the team has gone 1-8-1-1, putting its season in danger. The calendar is not letting up, either, not with a pair of games in Charlotte this weekend against a Checkers team that has gone on a tear this month.

As always, veteran Chris Terry has been excellent; in his second spin through Bridgeport, he is tied for the team with Brian Pinho at 21 points. Pinho has excelled as well with 14 goals through 26 games after managing nine last season. But the team needs its prospects to start producing. Matthew Maggio has one goal in 24 games after a 16-goal rookie season. William Dufour, who had 21 goals as a rookie in 2022-23, has four in 23 contests this season.

Management has been proactive, however. The team brought back defenseman Seth Helgeson and then added a veteran forward in Gemel Smith.

Henderson Silver Knights (6-19-0-0 – 15 points out of a playoff spot and yielding two games in hand)

On paper, the Silver Knights would seem to have it all.

A first-class arena coupled with a top-end practice facility. Easy proximity to their NHL parent club, the Vegas Golden Knights. That makes for convenient player movement both for the team and players who do not have to shuffle off to a distant location if they are sent to the AHL.

On the ice, though, the wins are not coming. The team has missed the Calder Cup Playoffs the past two seasons, and this campaign is already on shaky ground. In pursuit of the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights have had to move out top prospects and draft picks. Other picks simply haven’t worked out. Defenseman Daniil Chayka, a 2021 second-round pick, left the organization to go to the KHL this month. Another blueliner, Lukas Cormier, has been out of action through the first two months of this season.

With prospects and picks having been sent elsewhere, and a limited crop of prospects within the organization, the Silver Knights haven’t been able to blossom via their youth. Their veteran additions have largely also not found their games yet, either. The Silver Knights also have yet to get set in net, and all four goaltenders they’ve used have save percentages below .900.

They briefly rallied with a win at Coachella Valley and a home win against the Texas Stars to open December, but they are mired in a string of 11 losses in their past 13 games. They also have a punishing slate of ahead of them with a pair of games against each of Calgary (starting Friday), San Jose, and Ontario. And once January gets going, they play nine of 11 on the road.

Manitoba Moose (6-16-0-1 – 10 points out of a playoff spot with two games in hand)

Thursday brought some potential good news for the Moose as defenseman Dylan Coghlan cleared waivers, making him eligible to join the team if the Winnipeg Jets decide to take that route.

At one point, the Moose had a 3-3-0-0 record. Not great, but certainly something that would not imperil their season. Even a 6-9-0-0 mark as of Nov. 23 left the team enough room to rebound and pull back into contention.

Since then, however, the season has started for fall apart. They dropped all four games of a homestand, managing just one point via a shootout loss to Belleville on Dec. 7. Then they hit the road for four games and came away with four regulation defeats. A two-game visit to Abbotsford saw them shut out in both contests. That stop followed a pair of games in Calgary, where the Moose allowed a combined 12 goals.

Now the Moose have their traditional home-heavy holiday-time schedule. Starting it off will be a pair of games with the Rockford IceHogs. The Stars visit Canada Life Centre to wrap up the final two games of 2024. But after that holiday time at home, the Moose go back out on the road for stops at Calgary, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids as part of a demanding January schedule.

At 2.26 goals per game, the Moose are 31st in the AHL. Their power play and penalty kill both sit in the AHL’s bottom third as well.

Utica Comets (6-14-1-2 – 14 points out of a playoff spot with three games in hand)

Opponents underestimate the Comets at their own peril.

For a club that went without a win in its first 13 games, the Comets have collected an impressive list of victories. In one late-November period, they picked up a pair of wins against Providence and one against Springfield, two of the AHL’s stronger clubs in the opening third of the season. On Wednesday night they visited Cleveland and managed to grind out a 3-2 win behind two Adam Beckman goals and 28 saves from Isaac Poulter.

The problem is in between those impressive wins have been a bundle of losses. After that season-opening 13-game slide, the Comets won their next five games. But since the end of that winning streak, they’ve now dropped for of their next five contests. After such a poor start, this team needs a sustained run in order to move into contention. Utica’s 2.13 goals per game rank last in the AHL despite the team’s power play placing in the top-10, something that must change. Scoring help is badly needed.

They have this entire weekend off and do not resume play until Dec. 27 when a home-and-home series with Rochester is on their schedule. That set with the Amerks starts a stretch of seven of 10 games on home ice, where the Comets are just 1-7-0-2 so far.

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