Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice says his team very aware of how quickly things can go south in the National Hockey League.

After posting 114 points and reaching the Western Conference Final a season ago, Maurice is focused on managing expectations so his club doesn't have a collapse similar to that of the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators last season.

"I’ve been through it and I watched it. So, we paid close attention to Edmonton last year and Ottawa last year, and are very aware, especially with a young group, of how we handle our play," Maurice told The Winnipeg Free Press on Monday. "We lost five 30-year-olds that moved on from our team. We got quite a bit younger than we were last year and understood that when we come back, the expectations [changed] completely around us and that’s true of our players and the coaching staff.

"I really feel that’s my job here this year, to make sure that we set a high enough bar, but a realistic bar, with the idea that the bar will get raised over the course of 82 games - that we aren’t coming off the conference final and looking like that at the start. That’s not a failure by our players. We’re a different team this year, so we have to go back through that process.

"We’re going to take our game, live it a day at a time and get better every day."

The Oilers and Senators both reached the postseason in 2016-17 only to finish well outside the playoff picture last spring.

The Jets are off to a 3-2 start to this season with 11 goals for and 11 against. Veteran Bryan Little, who scored the game-winning goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, said the Jets have to be sure they don't buy-in to the Stanley Cup hype.

"It’s an every day thing. You go from playing in the [Western] Conference final, really big games, and [then] starting all over again. It’s a long time before you’re playing those big games again," Little explained. "You’ve got to get yourself to realize that these points and these games are going to be important in the long term.

"The way the fans and media were talking, you know, about a Stanley Cup this year, we’ve got to get there first. You can’t win a Cup if you’re watching the playoffs from home."

The Jets will host the Oilers (1-2) on tonight. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game LIVE on TSN3 at 6:30 p.m. CT.