Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson put the blame on himself Wednesday as the team's playoff hopes took another hit with a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Ekman-Larsson took two penalties and was a minus-1 in the loss, which saw the Coyotes fall three points back of the St. Louis Blues for fourth in the West Division with three more games played.

"The last little while we've been (making) a little too many mistakes and that comes down on me," the 29-year-old said post-game. "I don't really know what I'm doing out there.

"Big moments, I'm losing pucks out there, taking penalties. I don't really give us a chance to win."

The Swedish defenceman has two goals and 20 points in 40 games this season and is minus-21, while averaging 20:54 of ice time - the lowest average of his career since his rookie season in 2010-11.

The Coyotes explored trading their captain, who's signed through the 2026-27 season at an $8.5 million cap hit, last off-season but held on to him as his deadline to trade him to one of two teams - the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks - expired.

Selected sixth overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, Ekman-Larsson has 127 goals and 384 points in 763 career games.