Aeros one win from Calder Cup Finals

The Calder Cup Finals matchup could be set as soon as Wednesday night.

Both the Binghamton Senators (Ottawa) and the Houston Aeros (Wild) hold 3-0 conference final leads after Tuesday night thanks to Binghamton's 7-1 pounding of Charlotte and the Aeros' 3-2 win at Hamilton.

Each team plays Game 4 on Wednesday.

Here's an impressive fact: Mike Yeo was named Houston's coach. The runner-up for that job?

Binghamton's Kurt Kleinendorst (Grand Rapids, Minn.).

Safe to say Jim Mill, Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr had the right finalists for the Aeros' job.

Below is the recap from tonight's Aeros' game from Aeros' PR, and if you click this link, you can take a gander at the boxscore:

Game 4 is set for Wednesday night in Hamilton with a 6:30 p.m. CST puck drop.

With Kyle Klubertanz in the penalty box for tripping, DiSalvatore potted his second goal of the night and eventual game-winner at 5:18 of the second period. DiSalvatore's go-ahead goal in the second period came after the Bulldogs battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening 20 minutes.

Patrick O'Sullivan earned two assists including the primary helper on DiSalvatore's game-winner. Houston's Jared Spurgeon extended his scoring streak to four games with two assists while goaltender Matt Hackett improved to 5-2 on the road in the postseason with a 25-save effort.

The Aeros took a 2-0 lead on first period goals by DiSalvatore at 3:39 and Maxim Noreau at 15:40. DiSalvatore's power play tally finished off a 2-on-1 setup by O'Sullivan while Noreau's unassisted goal capped off a missed clearing attempt by the Bulldogs.

Hamilton answered with a pair of late first period tallies starting with 1:49 left in the frame. Nigel Dawes bagged his 10th postseason goal on the power play to cut the lead in half and then Andreas Engqvist tied it with 22 seconds left in the first period.

AEROS STARTERS
F – Gillies, Ortmeyer, Peters
D – Spurgeon, Bagnall
G - Hackett

AEROS SCRATCHES
Fraser, Penner, Lofquist, Foucault, Bulmer, Campbell, McMillan, Fredheim, Morency, Buck, Broda, Cuma

NEXT GAME
Western Conference Finals – Game 4
Wed., May 18, 6:30 p.m. (CST)
at Hamilton

DECIDING GOAL
DiSalvatore (5:18, 2nd)

POWER PLAYS
HOU: 1/3
HAM: 1/4