The players who were called up by the Sharks late last month on an emergency basis gave the team what it needed over the last several games.

Perhaps, though, it’s time to get back to normal.

The Sharks allowed two goals in the second period, including one by Jansen Harkins with 44 seconds left, in a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday at Canada Life Centre.

Andrew Cogliano scored his second goal of the season for a 1-0 Sharks lead in the first period. But the Jets responded with goals by Kyle Connor in the first period and Nate Schmidt and Harkins in the second as the Sharks lost in regulation for the second time in their last six games.

Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois added an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left in regulation time to round out the scoring.

“We did get the puck in, we did get our chances,” Sharks forward Nick Bonino said. “We had some looks there to even it up. We had a three-on-one both in the second and in the third.

“(Jets goalie Connor) Hellebuyck again, too, is a good goalie and we just couldn’t get him.”

Sharks goalie James Reimer made 30 saves as his record fell to 3-2-1 for the season.

Reimer entered Thursday with a .946 save percentage, second-best among 43 NHL goalies who had played in at least five games. His 1.60 goals-against average was tops among all goalies in that category.

Reimer helped the Sharks kill three penalties. San Jose, however, did not receive any power-play opportunities of their own for the first time this season.

“I thought we had a couple of opportunities and we just weren’t able to bury it,” Sharks assistant coach John MacLean said. “We never really got any power plays so it’s just one of those things. Guys tried and it just didn’t come our way.”

The Sharks recalled five players from the Barracuda – forwards John Leonard and Nick Merkley, and defensemen Jaycob Megna, Nicolas Meloche, and Ryan Merkley — on Oct. 30 after seven Sharks players and coach Bob Boughner landed in the league’s COVID protocol.

“Fair or unfair, they (were) thrown right into the fire there, so I thought they all did a pretty good job. They did what they were supposed to — make it difficult,” MacLean said. “I thought (Nick Merkley) did a pretty good job for us up front, and on the back end, all of the defensemen filled in admirably back there.”

Megna and Meloche both had a plus/minus rating of -2 against the Jets. Nick Merkley had a goal and two assists in six games, Ryan Merkley had a goal in six games and Leonard went without a point in five games.

“It’s been awesome, an unexpected surprise,” Ryan Merkley said. “It was a great opportunity for the seven or eight guys who got to play. I’ve never played in this league before. Six big games. I felt we played pretty well.”

Defensemen Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, plus forwards Matt Nieto, Jonathan Dahlen, and Cogliano were on the initial COVID list. Dahlen and Cogliano were able to come back to play Nov. 2 vs. Buffalo, but the other five missed the last six games.

Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier, who were added to the protocol on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, respectively, have missed the last five games.

The Sharks went 3-2-1 since the outbreak began. Their next game is Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.

“I will say I’m pleased with the total effort that these guys showed throughout this,” MacLean said. “The guys who got called up and the guys who were here, overall, they all buckled down and gave us an opportunity each night to win.”

Brent Burns extended his point streak to six games as he assisted on Cogliano’s goal at the 6:28 mark of the first period. Burns is the third Sharks defenseman to have a six-game point streak at age 36 or older, joining Rob Blake and Dan Boyle.