CHICAGO, Ill. – The conference finals are now set as the Houston Aeros defeated the top seed Milwaukee Admirals in Game 7 by the score of 4-2. They will now travel and face the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Western Conference Finals on Friday.
Both teams exchanged goals in the first period with Milwaukee getting the initial goal at the 8:02 mark with a tally from Gabriel Bourque with his seventh of the playoffs. He was assisted on the goal from Matt Halischuk and Blake Geoffrion. Left wing Colton Gillies tied up the score for his sixth with 13 seconds left in the period with helpers from Jared Spurgeon and Jed Ortmeyer.
After a scoreless second, Houston took their first lead as center Carson McMillian potted in a goal unassisted at 3:18. Halischuk got that one back for Milwaukee on the power play with helpers from Bourque and Geoffrion at 8:26.
Center Casey Wellman posted the game-winner for the Aeros with 1:39 left in the game and Warren Peters put the game away with an empty-netter sending the Admirals packing. Both goals were unassisted.
Rookie Matt Hackett got his eighth win of the playoffs as he stopped 30 of 32 shots. Jeremy Smith suffered the loss going 36 of 39.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, Binghamton will start their series in Charlotte on Thursday night. CONFERENCE FINALS Eastern Conference Finals CHARLOTTE vs. BINGHAMTON Not yet started Game 1 – Thu May 12 7:05 PM Binghamton at Charlotte Game 2 – Fri May 13 7:05 PM Binghamton at Charlotte Game 3 – Tue May 17 7:05 PM Charlotte at Binghamton Game 4 – Wed May 18 7:05 PM Charlotte at Binghamton Game 5 – Sat May 21 7:05 PM * Charlotte at Binghamton Game 6 – Mon May 23 7:05 PM * Binghamton at Charlotte Game 7 – Tue May 24 7:05 PM * Binghamton at Charlotte Western Conference Finals HOUSTON vs. HAMILTON Not yet started Game 1 – Fri May 13 7:35 PM Hamilton at Houston Game 2 – Sun May 15 4:05 PM Hamilton at Houston Game 3 – Tue May 17 7:30 PM Houston at Hamilton Game 4 – Wed May 18 7:30 PM Houston at Hamilton Game 5 – Fri May 20 7:30 PM * Houston at Hamilton Game 6 – Sun May 22 4:05 PM * Hamilton at Houston Game 7 – Tue May 24 7:05 PM * Hamilton at Houston SECOND ROUND Atlantic Division Finals PORTLAND vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 2 Game 1 – Wed Apr 27 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 2 Game 2 – Thu Apr 28 7:00 PM Binghamton 5, PORTLAND 3 Game 3 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM Portland 3, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 4 – Mon May 2 7:05 PM BINGHAMTON 6, Portland 1 Game 5 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Portland 6, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 6 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 0 East Division Finals W-B/SCRANTON vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte wins series 4 – 2 Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:05 PM Charlotte 3, W-B/SCRANTON 2 Game 2 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM W-B/SCRANTON 3, Charlotte 0 Game 3 – Mon May 2 7:00 PM CHARLOTTE 2, W-B/Scranton 1 OT Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:00 PM CHARLOTTE 1, W-B/Scranton 0 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton 1, CHARLOTTE 0 Game 6 – Sat May 7 7:05 PM Charlotte 4, W-B/SCRANTON 3 North Division Finals HAMILTON vs. MANITOBA Hamilton wins series 4 – 3 Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:30 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 4:00 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 2 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:30 PM MANITOBA 5, Hamilton 4 Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:30 PM MANITOBA 2, Hamilton 1 OT2 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:30 PM Hamilton 5, MANITOBA 1 Game 6 – Sun May 8 7:30 PM Manitoba 1, HAMILTON 0 Game 7 – Mon May 9 7:30 PM HAMILTON 2, Manitoba 1 OT3 West Division Finals MILWAUKEE vs. HOUSTON Houston wins series 4 – 3 Game 1 – Fri Apr 29 7:00 PM MILWAUKEE 3, Houston 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 5:00 PM Houston 2, MILWAUKEE 0 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Milwaukee 5, HOUSTON 3 Game 4 – Thu May 5 7:05 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2 OT Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:35 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2 OT Game 6 – Sun May 8 5:00 PM MILWAUKEE 5, Houston 4 OT Game 7 – Tue May 10 7:00 PM Houston 4, MILWAUKEE 2 FIRST ROUND Atlantic Division Semifinals PORTLAND vs. CONNECTICUT Portland wins series 4 – 2 Atlantic Division Semifinals MANCHESTER vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 3 East Division Semifinals W-B/SCRANTON vs. NORFOLK W-B/Scranton wins series 4 – 2 East Division Semifinals HERSHEY vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals HAMILTON vs. OKLAHOMA CITY Hamilton wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals LAKE ERIE vs. MANITOBA Manitoba wins series 4 – 3 West Division Semifinals MILWAUKEE vs. TEXAS Milwaukee wins series 4 – 2 West Division Semifinals HOUSTON vs. PEORIA Houston wins series 4 – 0 (* if necessary)
Contact the writer at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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