The NHL playoff field included some unexpected entrants, and the first two rounds featured some surprises and a handful of upsets.

Yet as things stand right now with the conference finals beginning Tuesday night, the teams still in contention for the Stanley Cup are a familiar mix of those who have been fighting for it the past few years.

The West final is a rematch of this same round last year with the Dallas Stars facing the Edmonton Oilers. The Carolina Hurricanes are in the East final for a second time in three years, awaiting their opponent from the winner of Game 7 between Florida and Toronto on Sunday night.

East: Carolina vs. Toronto or Florida

Game 1: Tuesday at Carolina if the Panthers win or at Toronto if the Leafs win (8 p.m. EDT, TNT)

Oddsmakers had the Hurricanes among the championship favorites going into the playoffs, in part because their path included an opening series against New Jersey without best player Jack Hughes. They were also favored to beat Washington, then suffocated the Capitals to finish it out in five games.

“You hope it’s a value,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said of playing just 10 games through two rounds and getting time off to heal. “There definitely is something to that.”

There is also something to Carolina being overlooked each year, dogged by a string of disappointing exits. But this team is one Igor Shesterkin goaltending showcase away from being in the East final for a third spring in a row.

The Hurricanes have allowed the fewest goals a game in the playoffs, thanks to Frederik Andersen’s play in net and a penalty kill clicking at a top-ranked 93.3%. Their first line of Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis has also been stellar.

But they’ve also played with a bit of a chip on their shoulder without names-on-the-marquee star power.

“I don’t know if this team gets maligned or this and that because we don’t have an (Alex) Ovechkin: We don’t have the greatest goal scorer of all time,” Brind’Amour said. “And we don’t have a (Nathan) MacKinnon or all these superstar kind of players. We have a little different mix, and we think we do have those kind of players — they just do it a little differently.”

West: Dallas vs. Edmonton

Game 1: Wednesday at Dallas (8 p.m. EDT, ESPN)

Katy Perry was scheduled to be on tour at the Stars’ arena on Wednesday night. Instead, it will be Corey Perry and the Oilers.

Edmonton has rolled since opening the playoffs with a pair of losses at Los Angeles, getting back to the third round thanks to an unlikely combination of defense and goaltending. And, oh yeah, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have combined for 33 points, too. No big deal.

The Oilers won the West final last year in six games, with Stuart Skinner putting up a 1.91 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage and the Stars’ Jake Oettinger a 2.56 and .901. Oettinger has been a rock this playoffs to get Dallas through Colorado and Winnipeg and now has the chance to show he can carry a team into the final.

“The guys that hadn’t had any experience, we have all the experience in the world now,” Oettinger said. “It’s up to us as a group to take that next step, and I think we should feel great about what we’ve done with the adversity we’ve faced. I think our best hockey is yet to come.”

Peter DeBoer has now coached a team into the third round for the sixth time in seven years. He was fired twice in that span, once each by San Jose and Vegas.