SAN JOSE, Calif. — The New York Rangers will have dud games over the final months of the season. It’s the inevitable reality of their situation. This is a team that lacks the talent needed to contend at a high level, has publicly declared it is retooling for the future and is missing arguably its two most important players (Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin) to injury.

But for the sake of everyone invested in the Rangers — the fans, the coaches, the players themselves — the team must find a way to start games with more conviction and discipline. This is already a group that coach Mike Sullivan said is “playing under difficult circumstances.” Bad starts, like the one the Rangers had in Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Sharks, only exacerbate those circumstances. Playing competitive games — even if they end in losses — still matters if the Rangers aim to put their young players in the best position to grow, and early-game implosions won’t lead to occasional feel-good wins in a lost season.

“Seems like that’s becoming a little bit of a theme lately,” Vincent Trocheck said. “We’ve gotta get away from it.”

Twenty-nine seconds into Friday’s game, Mika Zibanejad skated to the penalty box after tripping Tyler Toffoli, who was driving to the net on a Sharks’ rush. San Jose’s electric young center Macklin Celebrini, whom Sullivan twice compared to a young Sidney Crosby this week, made New York pay with a goal 1:09 in.

The Rangers had only 14 seconds of even-strength time before committing another penalty: a Matthew Robertson delay of game for sending a puck over the glass. New York’s penalty kill managed to contain Celebrini and the Sharks’ top unit, but Pavol Regenda scored on a backhand shot when San Jose’s second grouping took the ice.

“They come out flying,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said. “They draw two penalties. They capitalize. The building was rocking. We just kind of beat ourselves.”

Added Zibanejad: “There’s no avoiding the fact that the start kills us, really.”

Sullivan, trying to get his team back on track, used his lone timeout only 3:08 into the game.

Celebrini scored again in the first, this time off a Will Smith feed shortly after a Carson Soucy turnover, and Sam Carrick’s goal later in the period wasn’t enough to drag the Rangers back into the game. New York’s game stabilized after the early Sharks’ onslaught — the Rangers actually led in five-on-five expected goals on the night, per Natural Stat Trick — but Sullivan’s team dug too deep a hole to ever feel completely in the game.

“You can’t start a game like that and spot a team a couple of goals and then take seven penalties along the way and think you’re going to give yourself the best chance to win,” the coach said, referencing the five additional minors New York took after Regenda’s goal. “It’s just not a recipe for success.”

“You don’t win like that,” Zibanejad added.

The penalties were problematic. The start, though, was the genesis of New York’s problems Friday.

It’s not a new issue for the team. The Rangers have given up 14 goals in the first five minutes of games this season, per NHL Stats. That’s tied for third-worst in the league. In the first period, the Rangers have the third-worst shot differential (-79) and seventh-worst goal differential (-8).

January, during which the Rangers have played mostly without Shesterkin and Fox, has worsened those woes. The Rangers have allowed seven goals in the opening five minutes this month, second only to Seattle. Against the Kings on Tuesday, the Rangers had a defensive breakdown that led to a Los Angeles goal 18 seconds in. Ottawa struck twice in the opening five minutes the week before, and Buffalo took a lead 4:07 after puck drop on Jan. 8. The Rangers lost those games in regulation.

“We’ve just got to be ready to play,” Trocheck said.

“Trust me, I’ve thought about it,” Sullivan added. “I think the last few games we haven’t had the best starts. I’ve gotta do a better job preparing for it, I guess. I’ve got to find a way to make sure they’re ready from the drop of the puck.”

In the San Jose loss, Miller felt the Sharks had more urgency early in the game, won more puck battles and outworked the Rangers.

“When you don’t have a great start, and you get down in a game early, and then you combine the circumstance that we’re in right now, it doesn’t make for an easy environment to play,” Sullivan said.

In total, the Rangers are 1-7-1 since a Winter Classic win and have been outscored 45-25. A frustrated Miller said he’s “not at all happy with where we’re at.”

“This really sucks,” he said. “Losing every night, it’s hard to stay positive. … Everybody’s really trying hard. That’s what really sucks.”