Caleb Elfering took matters into his own hands and didn’t want any part of a massive upset.
The 20-year-old forward lit the lamp twice as the Chilliwack Chiefs survived the acrobatics of Charles-Edward Gravel and a first round scare by the Prince George Spruce Kings skating to a 4-0 victory in Game 7 on Tuesday.
Gravel was up to his early tricks in the opening 20 minutes turning aside all 16 Chilliwack shots he faced.
Elfering broke the deadlock at 1:45 of the second period as his one-timer went over the shoulder of Gravel to make it 1-0 Chiefs.
Spruce Kings forward Aiden Carolan lost his footing in the corner allowing a cross-ice pass to go through the zone and find Elfering in the slot.
Chilliwack doubled its advantage courtesy of Adam Boatter who pounced on a loose puck following a point shot by Olivier Beaulieu that went through a maze of bodies.
Elfering made it 3-0 early in the third accepting a Caleb Malhotra pass putting the deciding game of the series out of reach.
With less than four minutes to go, Spruce Kings head coach Brad Tesink elected to pull Gravel for the extra-attacker but to no avail.
Nathan Morin notched his first of the series into an empty net to salt away the victory for Chilliwack.
The Chiefs outshot Prince George 43-33. The Spruce Kings failed to score on the only power-play of the game.
Quentin Miller earned his first shutout of the playoffs.
The 20-year-old Montreal Canadians prospect earned a Memorial Cup ring with the Quebec Remparts in 2023 – a team coached by Patrick Roy who is now the bench boss of the New York Islanders.
Gravel finishes his brief stint in the BCHL with a 2.18 goals against average and a .938 save percentage in the playoffs.
The loss marks the final game in junior hockey for Gravel who is committed to Mercyhurst for next season.
Linden Makow, Owen Goodbrand, Will Moore, Nicholas Papineau, Trent Ballentyne and Maks Percic also wore the Spruce Kings jersey for the final time.
Chilliwack will play the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in round two.
The other BCHL Coastal Conference semifinal sees the Cowichan Valley Capitals taking on the Victoria Grizzlies.
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