Early in the season, it is important how you play, not just whether you win or lose. When you get late in the season or playoffs, its all about winning. Could the Winnipeg Jets have beaten the Philadelphia Flyers at the MTS Centre Tuesday? Yes. Would they have deserved to beat the Flyers? Probably not. It was a heartbreaker, but one that the team simply cant dwell on. What could have been was top spot in the Southeast, but what is most important now is getting ready for Thursdays game against Tampa, the fourth game of an eight-game homestand. (TSN Jets, TSN 1290) For the third straight home game, the Jets scored first with Dustin Byfugliens ninth of the year on the power play. When the Jets had the great homestand in December, scoring first was important. It was tied at one after the first with Claude Giroux scoring for the Flyers. It was a wild second period with Scott Hartnell giving the Flyers the lead with a power play goal, but two goals by Andrew Ladd 1:04 apart gave the Jets the lead once more. Ladd snapped a 13-game goal-less drought Sunday, and with the two in this game, has 19 on the year. It was his eighth career two-goal game. Max Talbot tied the game before the second period ended with the Flyers outshooting the Jets 31-20 after two. Evander Kane gave the Jets a 4-3 lead at 4:57 of the third and then the Jets tried to hold on. And it looked as though they would do it, thanks do some outstanding goaltending from Ondrej Pavelec, including a save off Jakub Voracek that will be up for save of the year. The Flyers outshot the Jets 18-5 in the third and, as the crowd at the MTS Centre came to its feet anticipating the win, the Flyers got a goal from Wayne Simmonds with 10 seconds left to tie it, sending it to overtime. With the way Pavelec was playing, and with Ilya Bryzgalov struggling (first three Jets goals on 14 shots), you felt if the Jets can get to a shootout, they could pull this one out. However, a centre-ice turnover led to Jaromir Jagrs record-setting 16th overtime winner and the Flyers had their win. Shots from the start of the third to the end of the game favoured the Flyers 24-6, and overall 55-26. That is the most shots the Jets have given up this season. On a positive note, the Jets power play went 3-for-3, scoring on the only shot they had on each man-advantage. Going back to the Avs game Sunday, the Jets power play has now scored on five straight opportunities. Tim Stapleton drew an assist on each power play goal for a career-high three-point night. It was the third straight game a Jet has recorded at least three points, the other two going to Blake Wheeler. Also, it was the third straight game a Jet scored two goals with the last two games by Bryan Little. Byfuglien now has 11 points in seven games, Little picked up two assists for his third straight two-point game, giving him 7-3-10 in the last 10 games. Giroux had 10 shots on goal, James Van Riemsdyk seven, showing the Jets were not as good defensively as they needed to be. Players viewed this in different ways. "They threw a lot at the net, so shots were misleading. Tough loss and you feel for Pav. He was great," said Kane. From Wheeler, "we let it slip away with nine seconds, after Pav was terrific. Its disappointing. Somethings not acceptable on our part considering what was at stake." Stapleton felt the power play did some good things, "but there was a lack of defensive coverage. We are a better defensive team than we showed. Were better than that." As for head coach Claude Noel, its back to what we mentioned off the top. "I will not pound on my players over this one. Disappointed we lost, happy with the point. Pavelec was the best player on the ice. Did we deserve two points, you can be the judge of that," said the coach in his post-game news conference. "They make a lot of great plays, but we didnt defend as well as we can. Well take the positives. Three power play goals, seven points out of the last eight, I was very impressed with Pav. We dont want to get too demoralized. Recovering from this is not an issue. We have another game Thursday and well focus on that." Zach Bogosian was again out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, while Antti Miettinen and Mark Flood were healthy scratches. CLEVELAND -- Another qualified coaching candidate has eluded the Browns. Ken Whisenhunts decision to accept Tennessees opening leaves Cleveland as one of just three NFL franchises still searching for a head coach. Whisenhunt, who guided Arizona to a Super Bowl, came close to being hired by the Browns last year and interviewed with the team on Saturday. San Diegos loss on Sunday in the AFC playoffs freed up teams to make offers to Whisenhunt and he chose the Titans after it appeared he was headed to Detroit. Its not known if the Browns tried to outbid the Titans for the well-regarded 51-year-old. With Whisenhunt no longer in the mix, the Browns moved into the third week of their quest to replace Rob Chudzinski without any clear front-runner, but with a new former NFL head coach on their list. The team has interviewed at least five known candidates and the Browns reportedly met Monday with former Titans coach Mike Munchak, also in consideration with the Lions. The 53-year-old Munchak, a Hall of Fame lineman, went 22-26 in three seasons with the Titans, who fired him on Jan. 4, ending his 30-plus-years association with the franchise. Clevelands degree of interest in Munchak isnt known since the team is not commenting on any interviews and Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner have maintained a low profile since dumping Chudzinski after one season. And while there may not be a current favourite to take over as Clevelands seventh full-time coach since 1999, there are signs that Denver offensive co-ordinator Adam Gase could be the Browns top choice. The 35-year-old Gase was the first candidate contacted by the Browns, but he informed them -- along with the Minnesota Vikings -- that he wanted to wait until after the playoffs to be considered. "I told both teams that were interested in me that I appreciated it and I was going to wait until after our season had concluded," Gase said on Jan. 3. "They were great about it. They said they appreciated me being up front and honest about it, and I thought that was the best decision for whaat we are trying to accomplish with our team.dddddddddddd" Its not known if Gase has agreed to an interview with either team. NFL rules prohibit teams from offering jobs to assistant coaches who are still in the playoffs. Gases decision to delay any interviews raised some flags about whether hes actually ready to be a head coach. But as long as hes paired with quarterback Peyton Manning, Gases profile will continue to grow and hell undoubtedly be coveted if he waits another year. Following Denvers win on Sunday over San Diego, Manning praised Gase during his postgame news conference for his play calling in helping the Broncos advance to Sundays AFC Championship against New England. In his first season as Denvers offensive co-ordinator, the Broncos scored an NFL record 606 points and led the league with 457.3 yards per game and 340.3 yards passing. His resume is impressive, but even if the Browns meet with Gase, its not a given he will be hired. Hes never been a head coach, and Haslam and Banner said they were determined to find a "strong winner who knows how to win football games" as they began looking for their second coach in just over a year. If the Browns chose to wait on Gase, they run the risk of the coaching talent pool drying up and being in a desperate situation should he turn them down. Cleveland has waited until after the Super Bowl before. Following the 2004 season, the Browns hired Romeo Crennel in the hours after the Super Bowl. The Browns are already losing a public relations war as the search has dragged on. After New England offensive co-ordinator Josh McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration for Clevelands opening last week, it heightened the perception that Cleveland is not an attractive job. It hasnt helped that some national reports have described the Browns situation as "toxic" and "radioactive." Haslam and Banner have also interviewed Seattle defensive co-ordinator Dan Quinn, Arizona defensive co-ordinator Todd Bowles and Green Bay quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '