The Tommies from St. Paul, Minnesota, recorded 2-0 and 4-3 wins, the Wildcats coming within one second of forcing overtime in Game 2 and getting at least one point that way.

Instead, NMU fell to 1-19 overall and 1-11 in the CCHA, still stuck on four points and in ninth place in the nine-team league.

The frustrating thing for the Wildcats was that this was their fifth straight game being within one goal in the final minute of regulation, with just one win but several empty-net goals and an OT goal given us that helped sink them.

For the season, NMU has been within a single goal in the final minute of the third period 11 times in 20 games.

Northern Michigan University’s Caiden Gault, right, makes a move to get around St. Thomas’ Mason Poolman, left, in the second period during their CCHA game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

St. Thomas is 9-7-3 overall and 6-3-2 in the conference, moving into a tie for fifth place in the league with 21 points. Having played anywhere from one to three fewer CCHA games than the teams in front of them, the Tommies are only seven points behind league-leading Minnesota State-Mankato.

Northern has a chance to lick its wounds, not playing again until a trip to Sault Ste. Marie to take on seventh-place Lake Superior State on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 3-4. LSSU is a modest 6-11-1 overall and 3-9 in the CCHA with 12 points.

St. Thomas is also off until after the holidays, hosting eighth-place Ferris State on Jan. 2-3 with the Bulldogs remaining four points ahead of NMU in the conference standings after being swept at Michigan Tech over the weekend.

Here are details from the St. Thomas series:

St. Thomas 2, NMU 0

Northern Michigan University goaltender William Gramme makes a save during a CCHA game played against St. Thomas at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

On Friday, the Wildcats were only outshot 35-29, but Tommies goalie Carsen Musser posted a 29-save shutout, his first such blanking in his collegiate career. He was the reigning CCHA Goalie of the Week, too.

Northern netminder William Gramme made 33 saves, including 16 in the final period when St. Thomas bagged both its goals. His saves percentage was a nifty .943.

The game was scoreless until the Tommies’ Lucas Wahlin scored his first of two goals with 16:51 remaining. Well before that, Gramme made a great save more than halfway through the opening period, as with a crowd surrounding him, he deflected the puck off the goalpost and away from danger.

NMU appeared to score with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first, but a review deemed it hadn’t.

In the second, Northern’s Medrick Bolduc had a breakaway chance, but was stoned even as the Wildcats held a 19-17 shots on goal edge after two periods.

Then early in the third, Wahlin got St. Thomas on the scoreboard with a goal that would have the same point scorer as his empty-netter with three seconds left — Quinton Pepper and Chase Cheslock getting assists, and in that order.

St. Thomas 4, NMU 3

On Saturday, with points in the standings so hard for the Wildcats to achieve, this had to be a gut-wrenching way for them to lose as Wahlin netted his third goal and Pepper his third assist of the weekend with exactly one second left.

With regulation about to run out, the Tommies crashed the net, and after Gramme made three saves in a mad scramble, a loose puck kicked out to Wahlin, who came down the slot for the winning shot.

It spoiled another great outing by NMU’s Caiden Gault, who had two goals for the second time in three games, unfortunately both losses. This brings his goal total to a team-leading 10, 30% of the Wildcats’ 33 goals this season.

Michael Burchill notched Northern’s other goal to put him alone in team scoring with four goals this season.

When Gault scored his second goal early in the third, the Wildcats led 3-1. But St. Thomas put on another third-period clinic of offense, this time taking 17 shots in the 20-minute span, one more than their hosts would get all night as the Tommies finished with a 37-16 shots on goal edge.

All those shots helped them get three past Gramme in the final 12 1/2 minutes to first pull even, then get the game-winner with one single tick left on the clock.

In the first period, however, Gault scored the only goal just before the midpoint of the period, finishing off a great net-front drive from teammate Girts Silkalns, according to a game report from NMU Sports Information.

It was Silkalns’ fourth point in his last five games, three of them assists.

Defenseman Anthony Cliche started the play, making a stretch pass to Gault at the far blueline, and with Gault gaining the line, he passed to Silkalns, who drove the net from the right circle. While that shot was stopped, Gault jumped on the rebounds for a shot over Musser’s shoulder in tight.

St. Thomas tied it less than 2 1/2 minutes into the second, capitalizing on a Northern turnover in the neutral zone, according to NMU SI. Ryan O’Neill took the puck and found Caige Sterzer breaking in unattended down the left circle.

The Wildcats returned the favor almost 14 minutes later, taking advantage of a Tommies’ turnover. Burchill collected the puck after it jumped over the stick of a St. Thomas blueliner, and with a quick move turned it into a breakaway before shooting a decisive backhand in unassisted.

It became 3-1 NMU early in the third, Kyle Bettens beginning the play wiht a great spinning pass to Warren Clark in the Northern defensive zone, according to NMU SI. Clark rushed up ice with Gault, Clark making a pass to his streaking teammate and Gault firing a wicked wrist shot to Musser’s short side.

But the Tommies began chipping away at their deficit five minutes later when a cross-crease pass to pinching defenseman Hayes Hundley turned into a sneaky shot past Gramme and initially deflected it.

It became a 3-3 tie another five minutes later, with 7:10 left, cashing in for the only power play goal by either team all weekend. Working the puck around the perimeter in their offensive zone, St. Thomas’ Alex Gaffney walked in from the left circle and fired a wrist shot between Gramme’s pad and glove on the far side.

Northern actually had the first good chance to score the fourth goal, Gault cleanly beating Musser on a power play before ringing it off the crossbar in the final four minutes.

Cliche’s assist was his second this season but first since the second weekend of the season, while the assist by Clark, a Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick, gave him three points in his last four games. Bettens also got his second assist in three games.

St. Thomas 2, NMU 0

Friday at Berry Events Center

Summary:

First period — No scoring

Second period — No scoring

Third period — 1. STH, Lucas Wahlin (Pepper, Cheslock) 3:09; 2. STH, Wahlin (Pepper, Cheslock) 19:57

Penalties-minutes: St. Thomas 2-4, NMU 3-6

Power-play opportunities: St. Thomas 0 of 3, NMU 0 of 2

Goalie saves: St. Thomas, Carsen Musser 29 (8-11-10); NMU, William Gramme 33 (10-7-16)

St. Thomas 4, NMU 3

Saturday at Berry Events Center

Summary:

First period — 1. NMU, Caiden Gault (Silkalns, Cliche) 9:41

Second period — 2. STH, Caige Sterzer (O’Neill) 2:16; 3. NMU, Michael Burchill (unassisted) 16:03

Third period — 4. NMU, Gault (Clark, Bettens) 2:26; 5. STH, Hayes Hundley (Braccini, Williams) 7:32; 6. STH, Alex Gaffney (Williams, Laylin) ppg 12:50; 7. STH, Lucas Wahlin (Pepper, Pilling) 19:59

Penalties-minutes: St. Thomas 4-8, NMU 5-10

Power-play opportunities: St. Thomas 1 of 4, NMU 0 of 3

Goalie saves: St. Thomas, Carsen Musser 13 (5-2-6); NMU, William Gramme 33 (9-10-14)

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.