Sharks defenseman John Klingberg (3) celebrates his goal with teammates as Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker skates by during San Jose’s 4-1 win Sunday in Raleigh. (Karl DeBlaker / AP Photo)

RALEIGH — The Hurricanes looked like a team playing for the third time in four nights. The Sharks’ young legs took advantage.

San Jose scored twice in the second period to break a tie, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves to beat his old team in a 4-1 Sharks win Sunday at Lenovo Center.

“We were mentally just not prepared,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They were hungry. It was an embarrassing effort, really, for two periods.”

The Sharks took the lead at 7:54 of the second period when Carolina’s fourth line and third defense pairing got hemmed in their own end. San Jose defenseman John Klingberg jumped into the slot and fired a shot past Pyotr Kochetkov (18 saves) to make it 2-1.

Then later in the period on the power play, Alex Wennberg scored off a rebound at 15:14 to double the Sharks’ lead to 3-1. Through two periods, San Jose had eight high-danger chances to Carolina’s one.

“The first two periods obviously weren’t great,” defenseman Sean Walker said. “I don’t think we got to our game plan very well. Turning pucks over against a team like that that’s hungry and has skill, they’re going to make you pay. That’s pretty much what it was.”

Kochetkov’s return to the crease — he was playing for the first time in nearly three weeks — got off to a sour start.

After Jordan Martinook failed to clear the puck out of the zone at the Carolina blue line, Sharks winger Will Smith got the puck to Macklin Celebrini. San Jose’s sophomore phenom made a perfect pass to Collin Graf for a tap-in and a 1-0 lead 33 seconds into the game.

The Hurricanes evened the score with their third power play goal in two games. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere’s point shot was redirected by Jordan Staal and past Nedeljkovic. It was Staal’s first power play goal since Oct. 23, 2021.

“It was nice that we got a power play goal,” Brind’Amour said, “but they also got one, so there was no advantage there for us tonight.”

The loss was Kochetkov’s first after four wins to start his season and Carolina’s fourth defeat in its last seven.

“It’s been kind of a little more 50/50 hockey and kind of just hoping for an easy game,” Staal said. “Not really willing to grind it out and give them nothing and play our style. We have a good thing rolling for a bit, and then we don’t. And then we do, and then we don’t.

“It’s starting to get a little frustrating. Tonight was a game that we should have been ready for. We should have been ready for a hard game, and we were not.”

Notes: Gostisbehere’s assist was his 18th of the season, pushing him past Sebastian Aho for the team lead. … Staal has eight goals through 25 games after scoring 13 in 75 games last season. … Celebrini finished with three points, his seventh three-point outing in 30 games this season.