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)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A strong earthquake rattled southern and central Mexico on Friday, interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum ’s first press briefing of the new year as seismic alarms sounded and leaving at least two people dead.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 and its epicenter was near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero near the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, according to Mexico ’s national seismological agency. There were more than 500 aftershocks.

The state’s civil defense agency reported various landslides around Acapulco and on other highways in the state.

Guerrero Gov. Evelyn Salgado said that a 50-year-old woman living in a small community near the epicenter died when her home collapsed. Authorities also said that a hospital in Chilpancingo, Guerrero's capital, suffered major structural damage and various patients were evacuated.

Residents and tourists in Mexico City and Acapulco rushed into the streets when the shaking began. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said that one person died after suffering an apparent medical emergency followed by a fall while evacuating a building.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 21.7 miles (35 kilometers), 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, which is in the mountains about 57 miles northeast of Acapulco.

Sheinbaum resumed her press briefing a short time after the quake.

José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights defender who lives on one of the peaks ringing Acapulco, said he heard a strong rumble noise and all the neighborhood dogs began barking.

“In that moment the seismic alert went off on my cellphone," he said, "and then the shaking began to feel strong with a lot of noise.”

He said the shaking was lighter than in some previous quakes and he had prepared a backpack of essentials to be ready to leave as the aftershocks continued.

He said he had been unable to reach some friends who live along the Costa Chica southeast of Acapulco because communications were cut.

A view of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that originated in the Acapulco area. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

A view of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that originated in the Acapulco area. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

A couple walks their dogs after leaving their home due to an earthquake that was felt in Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, amid a magnitude 6.5 quake that originated in the Acapulco area. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)