Do not adjust your set. The matchups in the NHL’s 2025 Stanley Cup conference finals look very familiar.

In the Western Conference, we’ve got a rematch from 2024, with the Dallas Stars holding home-ice advantage in their series against the Edmonton Oilers. Last year, the Oilers won 4-2.

Over in the Eastern Conference, it’s a repeat from 2023, with the Carolina Hurricanes holding home-ice advantage over the Florida Panthers. The Panthers swept that series, but all four games were one-goal wins and two went to overtime, including a quadruple-overtime marathon in Raleigh in Game 1.

The Eastern Conference final will be carried on TNT, TruTV and MAX in the U.S., and Sportsnet in Canada. Game 1 kicks off on Tuesday at Lenovo Center (8 p.m. ET).

The Hurricanes hold home-ice advantage, but only finished one point ahead of the defending Panthers in the 2025 Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers held a 2-1 edge in the regular-season series between the two, but Carolina starter Frederik Andersen was on the sidelines with a knee injury for all three of those games.

Injuries have been an issue for Andersen throughout his career, and he missed Carolina’s series-clinching game against the New Jersey Devils in Round 1 after leaving Game 5 with an undisclosed issue. But the 35-year-old was stellar when he returned, allowing just six goals in five games against the Capitals to build the playoffs’ best goaltending numbers so far: a .936 save percentage, 1.36 goals-against average and 12.2 goals saved above expected through nine games.

The Hurricanes have made the playoffs in seven-straight seasons since Rod Brind’Amour took over as head coach in 2018. This is their third trip to the conference final, but they have not reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning it all back in 2006.

After finishing off Washington on Thursday, May 15, the Hurricanes are going into Game 1 on four days’ rest. With eight goals, Andrei Svechnikov is the top scorer in the East through two rounds. He will be a new offensive threat, after missing the entire 2023 playoffs due to a knee injury that required surgery. Carolina has the top penalty kill in the playoffs, at 93.3 percent.

The Panthers are making their sixth-straight playoff appearance, and are in the conference final for the third-straight year. After beating the Hurricanes in 2023, they went on to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. In 2024, they knocked out the New York Rangers in six games in the conference final, then beat the Oilers in seven for their franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship.

Florida will be coming into the series on just one day’s rest, after taking out the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 on Sunday. The Panthers have the second-best penalty kill in the playoffs, at 89.5 percent. Their starter, 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky, has found his ‘A’ game with just four goals allowed in his last four games. And the Panthers have become known for their gruelling physical playing style. Florida has averaged a league-leading 46.42 hits per 60 minutes in the playoffs, compared to 37.11 for Carolina.

The Western Conference final will be carried on Sportsnet in Canada and ESPN in the U.S., with Game 3 and Game 6 on ABC. Game 1 kicks off on Wednesday at American Airlines Center (8 p.m. ET).

The Stars hold home-ice advantage after finishing five points above the Oilers in the 2025 Western Conference standings. The Stars also held a 2-1 edge in the regular-season series between the two teams. All three games featured the goaltending matchup that we’re expecting to start the series: Jake Oettinger vs. Stuart Skinner.

All told, this is the 10th playoff meeting between the two franchises, and the eighth since the Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas in 1993. The Stars are 5-2 in those seven previous match-ups.

Dallas has made the playoffs in six of the last seven years, including the last three under current coach Peter DeBoer. Stars’ GM Jim Nill has won the NHL’s Jim Gregory GM of the year award for the last two seasons, and this is his team’s third-straight trip to the Western Conference Final.

The Stars also reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2020 before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and won their lone Stanley Cup back in 1999.

This year, Dallas eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game thriller in Round 1, then took out the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in six games in Round 2. The Stars are going into Game 1 against Edmonton on three days’ rest.

The biggest story of the playoffs so far has been the dominance of Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen. Acquired from the Hurricanes at the trade deadline in his second move of the year, Rantanen leads the playoffs in both goals (9) and points (19). The Stars are also going into this series with a stronger blue line: top defender Miro Heiskanen returned in Game 4 against Winnipeg after missing three and a half months with a knee injury.

The Oilers come into the series on a full week’s rest, after taking out the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. In Round 1, they overcame an 0-2 series deficit to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth-straight year, leading the Kings to replace GM Rob Blake with Ken Holland last week.

After struggling early, the Oilers lifted Skinner in favor of Calvin Pickard in net late in Game 2 against Los Angeles. Pickard went on to win six straight games before being sidelined with an injury, but Skinner found his game when he returned to action. He closed out the Golden Knights with back-to-back shutouts, setting up a 1-0 overtime win to end the series in Game 5. Pickard is expected to be available at some point in Round 3.

The Oilers have also been missing a key defenseman, Mattias Ekholm, who has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury since late in the regular season. He took his first full practice with his team on Monday, well ahead of schedule, but a return to the lineup is not expected to be imminent.

Edmonton’s top stars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, also missed some game action late in the regular season. But both have been playing up to their usual standards through the first two rounds. McDavid is second among players who are still alive in the playoffs with 17 points in 11 games, and Draisaitl is right behind him with 16.

The Oilers have also gotten a boost from the return of forward Evander Kane, who was knocked out of the 2024 Stanley Cup final with various ailments and spent the entire 2024-25 regular season getting his body back in order. Since returning to action in Game 2 of the first round, Kane has seven points in 10 games.

This is Edmonton’s sixth-straight playoff appearance. The 2025 Stanley Cup conference finals will be the team’s second under Knoblauch. He took the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Panthers last year, his first with the team.