Paul Maurice is taking a different approach to defensive miscues made by the Winnipeg Jets than he believes Mike Babcock is with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When asked about his team’s struggles in their own end in reference to the youth on his team, Maurice said he wouldn’t use age as an excuse.

“The mistakes that I made, I did just a horrible job in relation to my colleague Mike Babcock in selling our age and the mistakes,” Maurice said facetiously Friday. “So, when they've lost a game it's just a wonderful learning experience and they win it's a triumph of character and we have the opposite thing going on here, right.

“So, but that's my choice because I don't ever want to walk in to a season to say we aren't here to win the Stanley Cup.”

According to The Athletic's James Mirtle, the Winnipeg Jets have the fourth-youngest roster in the NHL with an average age of 26.4, while the Maple Leafs (average age of 26.5) own the sixth-youngest roster.

The Jets (28-30-6) currently six points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Maple Leafs (28-21-14) are tied with the New York Islanders for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The two teams split their regular season series, with both games being decided in overtime by a score of 5-4.