Hasso Plattner, the Sharks owner, is the NHL’s international man of mystery. He makes infrequent public comments. He lives in his native Germany much of the year. He has a Bay Area place where he stays occasionally. He shows up for Sharks games sporadically.

But we do know this: Plattner was at Saturday night’s outdoor game.

We know this, too: The game was very big for him. Plattner’s software company, SAP, has its name slapped across the Levi’s Stadium rim as one of the building’s significant corporate sponsors. Across the street, a portion of the 49ers’ training facility is known as the “SAP Performance Center.”

You can surmise, then, that Plattner was excited about entertaining friends and clients at Saturday’s game and enthused about the prospect of his hockey team defeating the rival Los Angeles Kings in front of 70,205 people.

You can also surmise that Plattner was disappointed and upset when the final score turned out to be Kings 2, Sharks 1.

But would Plattner be disappointed and upset enough to do something drastic and shake up the front office or coaching staff? Right now? Just because of this one loss? On a night when the spectacle itself was so impressive and demonstrated how much the Sharks have succeeded in boosting Northern California hockey?

That sounds crazy. But crazier things have happened, especially in the NHL. There are always many rumors and gossip gurgles floating around teams.

The job security of Sharks coach Todd McLellan — and to a lesser extent, of general manager Doug Wilson — has been one of those gurgles over the past month as the team has been slowly losing its grip on postseason possibilities.

After the weekend’s games, in fact, the Sharks’ grip is nonexistent. They are tied with Calgary with 68 points, one point behind Minnesota for the Western Conference’s final wild-card playoff spot. However, the Flames and Wild both have played two fewer games. ﻿And Los Angeles, also with 68 points, has played three fewer games than the Sharks, which puts the Kings third in the Pacific Division, bumping the Sharks and Flames into wild-card consideration.

With only 21 games remaining for our beloved Los Tiburones, that isn’t good. They are in trouble, even if they can’t publicly say they are in trouble. When would they ever concede they are actually in trouble?

“If there are zero games left and we have zero chance of being in the playoffs,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “I believe we will continue to fight to the very end of the season.”

The truth is, the Sharks actually played one of their better games in recent weeks against the Kings under unusual circumstances. Of course, it would be difficult not to get amped up and go hard when 70,000 people are screaming their support. But the ice conditions ranged from slurpy to slushy to just plain yucky. But both teams sucked it up, adjusted as best they could and managed to unfurl a competitive game.

Ultimately, the Kings won because (A) they dominated zone time at the right times and (B) their goalie, Jonathan Quick, was better in the third period than Sharks goalie Antti Niemi, who allowed a soft goal to Marian Gaborik after a turnover by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. All the rest was piffle and distraction, although the sight of hockey in a packed football stadium is one damn amazing sight to witness.

“I thought we played really hard tonight,” said Sharks forward Tommy Wingels, which was true and an upgrade over some other recent games. “But you have to judge yourself on winning and losing, not playing hard. Playoff spots are won in these games, games 63 through 70, not just in the last five or six games of the season.”

When a big hockey event happens and so many voices from around the league gather, you hear so many things. You hear that Plattner, like Sharks fans, is peeved because of the team’s underperformance on too many nights. You hear that Plattner is unhappy with the coach. You hear that Plattner is unhappy with certain players, likes others. You hear that Plattner listens to Wilson’s personnel game plan with alternating approval and skepticism. You hear that Plattner, as an uber-rich guy, is satisfied as long as the Sharks keep drawing fans and putting on a good show while making the playoffs each season. Or not.

In the end, Plattner’s actions will speak. So what actions might occur after Saturday? Any? Plattner saw his favorite hockey team blow a golden opportunity to send its most loyal fans home in a great mood after a victory. Taking the big-picture view, losing to the Kings affirmed that Los Angeles is the better team, which is nothing new. Nevertheless, you could make one interesting observation.

The Sharks coaching staff had told the players that with the ice so iffy, they needed to simplify their game right out of the gate and avoid cute or complicated passes. In the first 10 minutes, that advice was ignored, and the Sharks were on their heels for much of the time. The final 50 minutes, the advice was heeded. Results were better. But what if the advice had been followed from the start? Maybe there would have been a Sharks goal or two early. The game could have been different.

So. Is it the coaching staff’s fault for coming up with the right plan that was not initially followed? Or is it the players’ fault for not following it? Or is it McLellan’s fault for not persuading the players to follow it?

Eddie Olczyk, the NBC hockey analyst and former Pittsburgh coach, implied Saturday that deciding to dis-employ McLellan would be folly. Olczyk said McLellan and his assistants are not the issue for the Sharks.

“This team is as prepared and well-coached as any team in hockey,” Olczyk said. “It comes down to execution. I think they certainly have the ability and physical parts of the game and the right strengths. To me, the question is, is the team and the leadership core strong enough to endure the pressure and the obstacles you face to win a championship? It’s always easy to blame the coaches and general managers, to question moves. But you look at their team … it’s about getting a big save and getting the goaltending, or getting a power-play goal when you need one.”

These final weeks of the season are going to be interesting. McLellan has been a good soldier as Wilson has attempted to do a roster makeover in slow motion, sending a message that the Sharks are a “tomorrow team” while also holding expectations to reach the postseason. Makes you wonder. No matter how professional the players are, is the “tomorrow team” phrase making it easier for them to shrug off too many defeats on too many nights?

Plattner saw the whole show himself Saturday night. If he left the stadium angry, you never know what might happen soon. Or perhaps he left angry, will cool down and allow the season to play out, with the Sharks finding a way back into the playoffs.

But if Saturday’s big Levi’s Stadium showcase turns out to be a turning point in the owner’s mind … well, that would be quite the coincidence. The last main-stage sports attraction in the building was the 49ers-Seahawks game on Thanksgiving Day. In the aftermath, 49ers owner Jed York pumped out his famous “apology” tweet that more or less signaled the imminent departure of coach Jim Harbaugh.

As far as we know, Plattner doesn’t tweet. But maybe we should check to make certain.

Read Mark Purdy’s blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/purdy. Contact him at mpurdy@mercurynews.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercpurdy.