SAN JOSE – There might have been a time in recent years when the San Jose Sharks, as a rebuilding team, might not have been terribly upset with winning just one game on a three-game homestand — as long as they were competitive throughout.

With the Sharks now desperate to earn every point and stay in the playoff chase, those days are over.

Presented with an opportunity to finish a brief homestand with a winning record against a struggling team, the Sharks instead allowed two goals early in the third period in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken before a sold-out crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.

Leading 2-1 on Collin Graf’s ninth goal of the season, the Sharks allowed goals to defensemen Ryker Evans and Ryan Lindgren just 2:30 apart and could not find the equalizer as they lost for the third time in six games and ended a three-game homestand with a 1-2-0 record.

“Disappointed is probably the best word to describe it,” Graf said. “We played well, but it’s a results-oriented business. We want to win games. You want to keep being in that playoff run. It’s more fun. It’s exciting for everyone around, and when you don’t get those points, especially in games that you played well, it’s disappointing.”

The Sharks beat the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Tuesday for their fourth win in five games at the time, and then battled the Dallas Stars, one of the NHL’s best teams, on Thursday before losing 5-3.

Saturday, the Sharks blew an opportunity to earn two points against a Kraken team that had just one win in its last 11 games and entered the weekend in last place in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks (17-16-3) now enter Sunday still holding the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. But if they want to stay in the hunt for a postseason spot, they need to beat the non-playoff teams when they have the chance.

“You could argue these are two games we should have won,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of the losses to the Stars and Kraken. “I think we’re frustrated in a sense, tonight, just because … we should win that game. But we shoot ourselves in the foot with some puck play.”

With the Sharks leading 2-1, a shot by Evans from just inside the blue line fluttered past a screened Yaroslav Askarov to tie the game 1:55 into the third period. The Sharks then fell behind as Lindgren’s shot from along the boards in the Sharks’ zone got past Askarov’s blocker for his first goal of the season and a 3-2 Kraken lead with 15:33 left in regulation.

Warsofsky thought some spotty play along the walls led to three Kraken goals.

“We don’t make the right play, we don’t make a hard enough play, we don’t cover the middle of the ice enough,” he said, “and then they get two bounces.”

Adam Gaudette scored on the power play 11:22 into the second period for his eighth of the season, and Askarov finished with 28 saves for just his second loss in 10 starts at home since the start of November.

The Sharks’ last game before the Christmas break is Tuesday on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights. Their first game after Christmas is next Saturday on the road against the Vancouver Canucks.

“It sucks to lose, but there’s obviously positives we can take away and things we can learn from,” Gaudette said. “But I think we’re playing pretty good hockey right now. We’ve just got to clean up a few things.”

The Sharks allowed the game’s first goal at the 6:52 mark of the second period, as it appeared Macklin Celebrini tried to kick a loose puck in the neutral zone back to defenseman Vincent Iorio. Instead, Eeli Tolvanen grabbed the puck and fired it past Askarov for a 1-0 Kraken lead.

The Sharks dominated large swaths of the second period. They capitalized on their third power play of the game to tie the game 1-1, as Gaudette knocked a loose puck around the net past Kraken goalie Joey Daccord.

Celebrini, who played on both the first and second power play units, and Igor Chernyshov both assisted on the goal. It was Chernyshov’s third assist in as many NHL games.

Askarov had to make 17 saves in the first period, including one with 1:12 left before intermission. Both defenseman Vincent Iorio and Ryan Reaves drifted to the corner to the right of the Sharks’ net, where Dmitry Orlov was in a puck battle with Kraken forwards Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers.

That left Kaapo Kakko wide open in front, and Eberle found him with a quick pass. But Askarov was able to blocker away Kaako’s wrist shot from the slot.

Askarov was also able to make three shots on a Kraken power play early in the first period when Reaves was called for holding the stick of Tye Kartye after a neutral zone faceoff.