Sharks fall to Nashville in 5-3 loss.

NASHVILLE, TENN. » The party will need to wait for at least twomore days.

The Sharks missed on an opportunity to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday, coming out on the wrong side of a 5-3 game with the Nashville Predators.

A win in Nashville would have secured the Sharks’ 13th trip to the playoffs in 14 years by guaranteeing that they would finish the season no lower than third place inthe PacificDivision. The Sharks will get another opportunity to punch their ticket into the second

season when they complete their four-game trip in Las Vegas Saturday night.

The regulation loss also ended the Sharks’ ninegame point streak.

Here’s what we learned as the Sharks lost for the ninth time in 10 trips to Music City: 1. THE SHARKS CAN HANG

WITH ANYBODY » When the Sharks last traveled to Nashville on Feb. 22, head coach Pete DeBoer called it a measuring-stick game, an opportunity for his group to see how it stacked up against the top team in the NHL. The Sharks failed the test with miserable grades, getting thumped by a 7-1margin.

They returned to Music City on Thursday as a reborn team in the wake of the Evander Kane trade and proved they can go toe-totoe with the Predators, who lead the NHL with a franchise-record 111 points after producing a 16-2-2 record over their last 20 games.

“They’re the top team in the West and we came in and pretty much proved to ourselves that we can hang with them,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “We really took a step in our game coming back in here after last time.”

The Sharks responded to 1- 0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits, getting goals from Logan Couture at 6:55 of the first, Dillon at 12:05 of the opening frame and Mikkel Boedker at 5:54 of the third.

Couture’s team-leading 32nd goal matched his career best set during the 2010-11 season, and Dillon’s tally gave him nine points in his last 10 games. Ryan Ellis scored the winning goal at 10:06 of the third, slapping a loose puck through goalie Martin Jones’ five hole from above the left circle.

The Sharks nearly tied the game in the third, pressing in the Predators end throughout the period, putting 24 shots on net. They finished the game against the NHL’s secondbest defensive team with 42 shots and 83 attempts.

The team’s major undoing in the game was an 0-for- 6 performance from the power play, which is 1 for 20 over its last five games.

The Sharks’ near-win against the Predators is even more impressive considering that their retooled fourth line was missing two pieces as Eric Fehr is sidelined by a day-to-day lowerbody injury and Barclay Goodrow is out after undergoing surgery to repair a broken finger Wednesday.

“We still don’t have our whole lineup out there yet, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that we can play with anybody,” DeBoer said. 2. TIP YOUR CAP TO THE UNDERSTUDY » The major reason why the Sharks’ point streak died was the performance of backup goalie Juuse Saros.

Pekka Rinne is the hottest netminder in the NHL, posting a 22-3-1 record with a .934 save percentage and five shutouts in his last 26 games. But the Sharks hardly caught a break by drawing the Predators’ backup.

Saros made a sensational save on Brent Burns with 5:58 left in the second, stretching across the crease to get a piece of his one-timer with his blocker, sending the puck up to the crossbar. He stopped Marcus Sorensen on two breakaway chances in the third and also thwarted Couture’s penalty shot with 1:53 left in regulation.

The understudy finished the third period with 23 saves. 3. THE REFEREES GOT RIGHT THIS TIME » The Sharks got robbed in Boston on Oct. 26 when Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin pushed the net off its hinges as the Sharks were attacking with 1:17 left on the clock. The Bruins should have been charged with a delay of game infraction, leading to a penalty shot because there was less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

A similar scenario played out Thursday as Ellis dislodged the Predators net while the puck was loose in the crease with the Sharks swarming at 18:07 of the third. This time, the referees got the call right, awarding a penalty shot to the Sharks that Couture failed to capitalize on.