The Sharks just haven’t been able to protect a multi-goal lead in the third period.

On Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena, it finally cost them a point.

After blowing a two-goal third-period lead and failing to score on a power play in overtime, the Sharks couldn’t beat goalie John Gibson in the shootout and lost 4-3 to the Detroit Red Wings.

Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg all failed to score in the shootout, and Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic gave up a third-round goal to Lucas Raymond.

The Sharks led by two early in the third period on Saturday but allowed goals to Emmitt Finnie and Alex DeBrincat, with DeBrincat’s game-tying goal coming with 1:33 left in regulation.

The blown lead not only cost the Sharks (4-3-1) a chance at their first regulation-time victory of the season, but also kept them from winning their third straight away from home.

Nedeljkovic made eight saves in the third period and 24 for the game as San Jose dropped to 1-0-1 on its six-game road trip that continues Monday night in Toronto.

The Sharks have also blown multi-goal leads this season against the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles and, most recently, the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

The Sharks still managed to win all three games, beating the Panthers and Kings in overtime and the Predators in a shootout.

Before overtime, Celebrini had a goal and two assists, and Dmitry Orlov and Stenberg each scored on the power play.

Celebrini scored at the 4:55 mark of the second period, and Stenberg added a power-play goal 2:48 into the third as the Sharks built a 3-1 lead.

Finnie got the Red Wings within one as he got behind the Sharks’ defense to score an even-strength goal at the 5:00 mark of the third. On the tying goal, the Red Wings got the puck toward the slot before DeBrincat, from the side of the net, knocked a loose puck past Nedeljkovic for his fifth goal of the season.

Stenberg’s goal, the second of his NHL career, came off an assist from Alexander Wennberg, who took a pass from Celebrini at the side of the net and fed Stenberg in the slot.

A heady play by defenseman Michael Kesselring led to a Sharks’ go-ahead goal in the second period.

Kesselring intercepted a lazy clearing attempt by Red Wings defenseman William Wallinder just inside the Detroit blue line and after a stride, quickly got the puck to Will Smith. He then found a trailing Celebrini, who wound up and blasted a shot top corner past Gibson for his third goal of the season and a 2-1 lead.

The Sharks held a 14-5 shot advantage after 20 minutes and tied the game 1-1 on a late first-period power-play goal by Orlov.

With Ben Chiarot serving a penalty for holding Celebrini’s stick and the Sharks down by one, Orlov took a pass from Stenberg and blasted a shot from just inside the blue line past Gibson for his first goal of the season.

Following Nedeljkovic’s sterling 32-save performance against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky wanted to get the Parma, Ohio native back in the net right away. Nedeljkovic, who was with the Red Wings for two full seasons from 2021 to 2023, was also going to be playing in front of several friends and family members.

Nedeljkovic entered Saturday with a 2-0-0 record and a .933 save percentage after stopping 24 of 26 shots in the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 8.

Before Saturday, Nedeljkovic posted a less-than-stellar .873 save percentage in nine career NHL starts after one day’s rest.

“He was outstanding the (Thursday) night, and in both games he’s played this year, he’s given us a chance to win the hockey game,” Warsofsky said of Nedeljkovic. “He’s made timely saves. He’s made the saves he’s needed to make, but the timely ones you need, and he did that in Nashville.”

NURSE RETURNS, CAGNONI SITS

After missing Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, defenseman Darnell Nurse returned to the Sharks’ lineup Saturday and started alongside Kesselring on San Jose’s top pair. Nurse, considered a game-time decision Saturday, was injured Tuesday in San Jose during a fight with Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov.

With Nurse back, the Sharks scratched rookie Luca Cagnoni for the first time this season. Cagnoni struggled in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Bruins and likely would have been scratched on Thursday if Nurse had been able to play.

Cagnoni, who has spent most of the season as the quarterback on the Sharks’ top power play unit, has a goal and an assist in seven games as he’s averaged 18:37 in ice time per game.