Start strong, finish however: Providence pregame

The whole “get off to a good start” thing only means so much in a long season. The first five times the Sound Tigers missed the playoffs, they won the first game of the season. (The past two, 2013-14 and ’14-15, they lost.) Meanwhile, Bridgeport teams that have made the playoffs are roughly .500, three wins (one in OT), three regulation losses, one overtime loss and a tie.

It’s a start, one way or the other, but it’s 1.3 percent of your season. Just 75 more to go.

But you knew that. Tell you something you don’t know? Ehh, I blew it all this morning. Sorry.

One to scratch each way, but it looked like Finn for Bridgeport and White for the Bruins. It’s been a long summer.

BRIDGEPORT
F: Rowe – St. Denis – Ho-Sang
Dal Colle-Kearns (A)-Fritz
Winquist-Schempp-B.Holmstrom (C)
Johnston-C.Jones-Markison
D: Pelech-Mayfield (A)
Toews-Pulock
Lafranchise-Burroughs
(Finn-scratch)
G: Gibson
Williams

PROVIDENCE
F: DeBrusk-Cave (A)-Mueller
Rinaldo-Szwarz-Simpson
Blidh-Kuraly-Hickman
Hargrove-Bakker-Randell (A)
(White-scratch)
D: Cross (C)-Casto
Grzelcyk-Grant
Bartkowski-Arnesson
G: Subban
McIntyre

R: Schlenker, Moser. L: K.Briganti, Briggs.

This should be the box.

Bridgeport scratches (believed healthy unless noted): Finn apparently, Cullity, Landry (suspended 1/1), Leduc, Gionta (lower body), J.Holmstrom, K.Jones, Verhaeghe.

Michael Fornabaio