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 tonight, 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 defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are in the East final for a third consecutive spring after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 on the road late Sunday and next face the Carolina Hurricanes with these teams meeting at this stage for the second time in three years.

“We’ve already been in a conference final, and we know what’s going to happen there,” said Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, whose eight goals are second in the postseason to only Mikko Rantanen. “It’s not going to be easy there.”

Nothing is easy this time of year. But some team is eight wins from hoisting the Cup.

East — Carolina vs. Florida: The Panthers trailed the Maple Leafs two games to none, then lost their first chance to move on. They made no such misstep Sunday night, waxing Toronto to set up a rematch of the 2023 East final.

That was a sweep, with Florida winning each time by a goal: Game 1 in four overtimes, Game 2 less than two minutes into OT, Game 3 1-0 and Game 4 when Matthew Tkachuk scored with 4.9 seconds left. The banged-up Panthers lost to the Golden Knights in the final but learned lessons that helped them win it all last year.

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%.

West — Dallas vs. Edmonton: (Game 1 is Wednesday) 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 to the Kings, 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.