NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The Sharks simply could not stay out of the penalty box Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators.
Some of the calls that went against the Sharks were discretionary. Others were self-inflicted.
It all added up to a 3-1 Sharks loss to the Predators at Bridgestone Arena, as San Jose wrapped up its four-game road trip with a 0-3-1 record.
Timo Meier scored the Sharks' only goal with 1:58 left in the third period to cut Nashville's lead to one. But the Predators added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Sharks goalie Martin Jones finished with 29 saves as Nick Bonino and Ryan Johansen scored power-play goals at the 4:24 and 12:59 marks of the third period, respectively.
In all, the Sharks had to kill seven minor penalties.
The Sharks had chances to tie the game after Bonino scored. But Barclay Goodrow was denied by Predators goalie Juuse Saros on a penalty-shot attempt with 10:55 left in the third period. Meier was then stopped on a breakaway with 8:05 left in the third period.
In all, Saros finished with 24 saves as the Predators won the season series with the Sharks two games to one.
A critical juncture came late in the second period as Predators defenseman Roman Josi was given a cross-checking penalty with 26 seconds left before the intermission.
But just 22 seconds into the power play, Dan Hamhuis got tangled with Evander Kane in front of the net. Kane came up and began swinging at Hamhuis before he got into a fight with Austin Watson.
After the dust settled, Kane wound up with 19 minutes in penalties, which included an extra two minutes for roughing that wiped out the Sharks power play.
The Sharks killed six minutes of penalties in a scoreless first period dominated by special teams.
Goodrow was given a slashing minor just 47 seconds into the game and Mario Ferraro was given a double minor for high sticking Craig Smith at the 8:05 mark. The Sharks, who allowed two power-play goals to both Tampa Bay and Florida over the weekend, held the Predators to three shots with the man advantage.
The Sharks had one power play in the first period, but had just one shot on net after Calle Jarnkrok was called for hooking Marcus Sorensen, who had gotten behind the Nashville defense but was unable to get a shot off after a pass from Joe Thornton.
Brenden Dillon prevented a goal as he swept a puck that was an inch from the goal line after a shot from Matt Duchene slipped through Jones.
A scoreless first period wasn't the worst thing for the Sharks after what they dealt with on the first three games of the road trip.
The Sharks allowed the first goal at the 4:31, 3:10 and :50 second marks in games against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida, respectively.
Jones finished with 11 saves in the first period.
