The Sharks secured seven of 12 points on their six-game road trip, but they certainly feel like they let plenty of opportunities pass them by — especially after a tough 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at TD Garden.

San Jose fell apart again late in their trip-ending loss, allowing four Bruins goals in the third period after entering the frame with a 3-2 advantage. The defeat, which gave them a 3-2-1 road trip, marked the fifth time during the young 2026-27 NHL season the Sharks have blown a third-period lead, but just the second time it has resulted in a loss.

“We just shoot ourselves in the foot again,” Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov told reporters after the game. “I think it’s kind of happened almost every game. We’re not winning the battles when we have to. We’re not playing more hungry for the battles, for the puck, and that’s why we give up some goals. …

“It’s obviously frustrating, but we’ve played games and there’s a lot of games coming up. We have to learn and not do the same mistakes.”

After game-tying goals from Michael Misa in the first period (to make it 1-1) and Kierfer Sherwood in the second (making it 2-2), Orlov’s power-play goal 4:03 into the third gave the Sharks a 3-2 advantage, and it looked like they could leave Boston with two points after losing to the Bruins 6-3 at SAP Center on Oct. 13.

But Boston scored three unanswered goals before Will Smith’s fourth score of the season made it 5-4, which is all the fight the Sharks would must before the Bruins put the game away with an empty-netter as less than 30 seconds remained.

Smith put the onus on the Sharks’ defense after the game, after goalie Alex Nedeljkovic posted an .853 save percentage in the loss.

“I think we’ve just got to be better in front of net,” Smith told reporters. “There’s a couple of goals there, especially when our line’s out there, we can’t let it happen, and definitely think we should have won that. …

“[The goals are] very preventable. We’ve got to help Ned out and defend right there.”

Nedeljkovic also viewed the defeat as a should-have-been win that slipped through San Jose’s fingers, but he’s viewing the road trip as a whole in a positive light.

“We had chances, we had momentum and just let it kind of slip away and didn’t finish,” he told reporters. “It’s a tough one to swallow right now. Definitely leaves a sour taste in your mouth, at least for me. It’s a tough one.

“But we did a lot of good things. I think there’s still plenty of room for us to grow in certain areas and get better at. So, we’ll take the .500 record. It’s a tough trip. It’s a long trip. Played in some tough buildings. So, take the record and regoup at home, and hopefully come out swinging on Tuesday.”

Nedeljkovic and the Sharks will look to get back in the win column when they return to The Tank to face the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday.

Download and follow the San Jose Hockey Now podcast