the company said. Mr. Ghosn said: "The appointment of Carlos Tavares is a first step in strengthening Renault's management." The appointment followed the resignation in April of Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata, who took responsibility for a debacle in which the company was misled into firing three executives--including a member of its management committee. It accused them of selling proprietary information outside the company, but eventually exonerated and compensated them. Police are now investigating a plot to defraud the company by members of the auto maker's internal security service, three of whom have been fired. The incident badly damaged staff morale, and Mr. Pelata's departure left a large gap in senior management, as he had been effectively running Renault's day-to-day operations since the 2008 financial crisis. Renault also faces business challenges. Renault-branded cars have struggled against the brands of French rival PSA Peugeot Citroen. Sales have risen strongly for Renault's low-cost brand Dacia, but these are mostly made in Romania, leading to complaints from the French government that Mr. Ghosn is shifting production out of France. Mr. Tavares arrhe compete level his team showed in a 3-1 loss in the series opener Friday night . "I think we were a little better, but we're still going to have to be better yet. That's a good team over there, and I think this what it's going to be like. "I thought the effort was there, but we can be better and some of our key players can still be better. We played hard and we deserved to win. But this one could have gone the other way, as well."On the game winner, O’Brien collected a bouncing puck in the right slot off a broken play in the attacking zone and wristed a shot which beat Houston goaltender Matt Hackett five-hole. Erik Condra picked up the lone assist on the play, as O’Brien registered his third goal of the playoffs and first since scoring in Game 6 of the second round vs. the Portland Pirates. "It felt great," O'Brien told reporters afterward. "It's a fine line and we're happy to come out of here with a win tonight. We'd feel a lot worse if we were down 2-0, so we feel great right now. We're going back to home ice and hopefully, we'll get some wins there."The 22-year-old O’Brien was drafted 29th overall by the parent Ottawa Senators in 2007 and recorded 24 regular-season goals in 74 games this year after totaling only eight in 76 contests as a rookie in 2009-10. For the second time in as many games, rookie forward Bobby Butler staked the Senators to a 1-0 first-period lead, this one coming on an early power play just 1:45 after the opening face-off. Butler now shows 12 goals (12-3-15) in 19 games, just two shy of the AHL rookie record for a single postseason. The Aeros answered a little less than three minutes later on a power play of their own, as rookie forward Casey Wellman buried his sixth goal of the playoffs and third in the past three games (3-0-3). It remained a 1-1 deadlock until O’Brien’s heroics in overtime. Senators goaltender Robin Lehner turned aside 28 of 29 shots — including a pair of prime scoring chances for Houston in the extra session — to improve to 11-3 in 15 playoff appearances. Matt Hackett took the loss for the Aeros after making 19 saves."It was huge," Lehner told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin in describing the significance of the result. "If we didn't win today, it wouldn't be over, but it would be another Manchester series wi