Looking a little weary from a demanding travel schedule, the Sharks fell to Carolina, 5-2, at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Friday night.
Playing its third game in four nights in the Eastern time zone, San Jose (31-21-5, 67 points) squandered an opportunity to move closer to the first place Kings and leapfrog the Ducks in the Pacific Division. The Sharks remain three points behind Los Angeles and one behind Anaheim, and all three teams have played 57 games.
San Jose fell to 4-1-1 in its last six games, and 2-1 on a five-game road trip.
A dominant second period resulted in Carolina scoring the only goal of the frame to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room that it would not relinquish.