Backman returns: Manchester pregame

Marc Cantin makes his season debut in Andrey Pedan’s place, and the lines look pretty much as they have during the week. Anders Nilsson goes again.

One to scratch each way. Not Sean Backman, who’s on a line with old Yale buddy Brian O’Neill. From appearances, it’s Mike Dalhuisen and Scott Sabourin. Edit: It is.

Meanwhile the banners have relocated: The Sound Tigers’ banners, including the one honoring Dr. Ken Dressler, are now atop the harbor-side end of the rink, where the old scoreboard used to be, along with a Fairfield banner, a Sacred Heart banner, and the banner that honors Lt. Steven Velasquez of the Bridgeport Fire Department. Not sure why they’ve moved, but kind of like the idea (though that black curtain probably obscures them from some angles, I’ll guess).

BRIDGEPORT
F: Lee-Strome-Diamond
Persson-Sundstrom-Bruton (C)
Halmo-Quine-Wetmore
Miller-Clark-Johnson
D: Finley-de Haan (A)
Ness (A)-Mayfield
Cantin-Jackson
(Dalhuisen-scratch)
G: Nilsson
Reiter

MANCHESTER
F: Pearson-Vey (A)-Toffoli
Deslauriers-Weal-Kozun
O’Neill-Andreoff-Backman
Bishop-Shore-Czarnik
(Sabourin-scratch)
D: Bodnarchuk (A)-LoVerde
Forbort-Campbell (A)
Schultz-Miller
G: Jones
Berube

R: Mayer. L: Colby, Baker.

Sacred Heart followed up its wait-what-really season-opening win over No. 1 UMass Lowell with a 6-0 loss to RPI here. Tough turnaround; too tough, in the end.

Michael Fornabaio