7 p.m. at War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

The Crunch host Bridgeport for the first time this season in Week 4. It's the first of two meetings this campaign between the conference foes, with the other coming Jan. 26 in Bridgeport.
After back-to-back wins for the first time this year, the Crunch (3-2-1-0) have seven points in six games, placing fourth in the East Division and ninth of 15 in the Eastern Conference. Bridgeport has just one win in five games (1-3-1-0), all at home. The Sound Tigers are fifth in the Northeast Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Broadcast Coverage
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
ESPN Radio 97.7-FM & 1200-AM Syracuse; 100.1-FM & 1440-AM Oswego
Free audio on your mobile device with the TuneIn App
Pay-to-watch video on AHL LIve.com and on your mobile device with the AHL Live App

Pink in the rink 
Tonight the Crunch Foundation, the club's charitable arm, is partnering with Upstate University Hospital to host 'Pink in the Rink', a breast cancer awareness night to benefit the Upstate Cancer Center and Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

In honor of breast cancer awareness, fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a complimentary pink shirt courtesy of the Crunch and Upstate Cancer Center.

A portion of the proceeds go to the Upstate Cancer Center and Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

Last time out
Last night, the Crunch won their second straight game with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Utica Comets, in the first match ever between the two teams. Utica took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal by Colin Stuart just 4:39 into the game.

The Crunch responded in the second period on Nikita Kucherov's power-play goal at 6:43 of the second. It was his sixth goal of the season, most among rookies in the AHL. Matt Taormina had the primary assist on the play, extending his scoring streak to five games, his longest as a member of the Crunch. Vlad Namestnikov also had an assist, pushing his scoring streak to four in a row.

The game remained tied through the rest of regulation and overtime, despite the Crunch outshooting Utica 33-20. In the shootout, Benn Ferriero scored in the first round to give the Comets the quick shootout lead. In round four, Tanner Richard scored to knot it up and in the extra round Cedric Paquette scored five hole to give the Crunch the 2-1 advantage. Cedrick Desjardins made his fifth straight save to seal the 2-1 win.

The Crunch power play went 1-for-6, and has now scored power-play goals in five consecutive games. Desjardins made 19 saves in regulation and overtime, and another five in the shootout for his first win of the season.

Scouting the Sound Tigers
Bridgeport has lost three consecutive games over the last two weeks. The Sound Tigers started the season with a 5-2 loss to the W-B/Scranton Penguins. They then picked up their lone win of the season with a 4-3 shootout victory against the Norfolk Admirals. Since then, they've lost three straight, with a 3-0 loss to Manchester, a 3-1 defeat against Springfield, and a 6-5 overtime loss to Binghamton in their most recent game last Sunday. All five of those games were at home.

Ryan Strome leads the Sound Tigers in scoring with six points (1g, 5a). Defenseman Andrey Pedan (1g-3a-4pts) and center Johan Sundstrom (2g-2a-4pts) are the other leading scorers. Joe Finley and Scott Mayfield are the only players with a positive plus/minus.

Goaltender Anders Nilsson has played in four out of the five games this season for the Sound Tigers. He's got a 1-2-0-0 record with a 3.96 goals against average and an .860 save percentage.

Head-to-head
For the second straight year, the Sound Tigers and Crunch will meet twice, once in Syracuse and once in Bridgeport. Last year, the Sound Tigers won both matches, a 7-2 win at home in December and a 3-2 overtime win in Syracuse in April.

Several Crunch holdovers had points last year against the Sound Tigers. Matt Taormina had two assists the in the two contests. Tanner Richard, Mike Angelidis, and J.T. Brown also had points last season against the Sound Tigers. Cedrick Desjardins allowed three goals in his only start against Bridgeport last year.

Many of the top scorers for the Sound Tigers against the Crunch last season are no longer with Bridgeport. Johan Sundstrom had just one goal in the two games agaisnt Syracuse. Current Sound Tiger Joe Finley played four games against the Crunch last year as a member of the Rochester Americans. He had one assist and 32 PIMs in those games.

Special teams
With the power-play goal last night, the Crunch now have extra-man tallies in their last five games. On the season the Crunch are 9-for-34 (26.5%) on the man advantage, good for fourth in the AHL. Nikita Kucherov's four power-play goals lead the entire AHL.

The Crunch penalty kill allowed one goal in five shorthanded situations. Syracuse has allowed at least one power-play goal in all six games this season. Overall, the Crunch are 21-for-29 (72.4%) on the PK, 27th in the AHL.

The Sound Tigers power play is just 3-for-36 (8.3%), which is 28th in the league. It's also allowed four shorthanded goals. The PK is identical with the Crunch (21-for-29, 72.4%), with two shorthanded goals on the season.  

Syracuse dropping the gloves
The Crunch have committed 11 fighting majors through the first six games of the season. Ten different players have been involved in fights, including several for the either the first time as a member of the Crunch or in their careers.

Four players have been involved in a fight for the first time in their AHL careers.  Tanner Richard (last night), Luke Witkowski (Oct. 12), Artem Sergeev (Oct. 13), and Cedric Paquette (Oct. 13) all fought for the first time. Dmitry Korobov had his first regular season fight for the Crunch.  His only previous bout came against the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Joey Mormina and Geoff Walker also have fought for the first time as members of the Crunch.  Mormina fought on opening night and then again at the home opener, making him the only Crunch player with two fights.  J.T. Brown, Mike Angelidis and J.P. Cote are the other three players to fight this season.