NHL's final 4 has a familiar feel with teams known for long playoff runs in the conference finals

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 defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are in the East final for a third consecutive spring after beating Toronto in Game 7 of their series 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.

Game 1: Tuesday at Carolina (8 p.m. EDT, TNT)

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, who beat New Jersey without best player Jack Hughes in the first round and suffocated Washington in the second, get the benefit of rest having played just 10 games this postseason.

"You hope it’s a value," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “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. Every team counts on all their players, but I think we definitely need everyone to contribute, and that’s what you’re getting right now.”

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.”

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

To play for the Stanley Cup that has eluded him, the Stars need to flip the script on the Oilers, with McDavid and Draisaitl also motivated 11 months since falling one game short of hockey's hallowed trophy.

“You’ve got two hungry teams that have been really close and haven’t gotten there yet," DeBoer said. “It’s going to be a battle of wills here.”

AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) celebrates affter his goal with teammate Nate Schmidt (88) during the second period of Game 7 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafsin Toronto, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Carolina Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis celebrates after his goal against the Washington Capitals during the second period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

FILE - Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) prepares to shoot against Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) during overtime in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff finals, May 23, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) celebrates his goal in the first period of Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Washington Capitals Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

FILE - Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) works to get the puck past Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) during the first period of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, May 23, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)