The defending Stanley Cup champions are now among the final four teams remaining in this year's postseason. And if they keep playing as well as they have of late, they may be on their way to repeating.

The Tampa Bay Lightning advanced past the second round of the playoffs on Tuesday night, notching a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, who were the No. 1 seed in the Central Division. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series with a pair of road wins, and it won again on Carolina's home ice in Game 5 to move on.

Now, the Lightning will have to wait to find out who their next opponent will be. They'll be playing either the New York Islanders or Boston Bruins with a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals on the line. New York currently leads that series 3-2.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have also advanced past the second round with a four-game sweep of the Winnipeg Jets. They'll play the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights-Colorado Avalanche series, which Vegas currently leads 3-2.

Here's a look at everything you need to know as the second round of the playoffs nears its conclusion.

2nd-Round Results, Schedule

No. 3 Boston Bruins vs. No. 4 New York Islanders

Game 1: Boston won 5-2
Game 2: New York won 4-3 (OT)
Game 3: Boston won 2-1 (OT)
Game 4: New York won 4-1
Game 5: New York won 5-4
Game 6: Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 7 (if necessary): Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

No. 3 Winnipeg Jets vs. No. 4 Montreal Canadiens

Game 1: Montreal won 5-3
Game 2: Montreal won 1-0
Game 3: Montreal won 5-1
Game 4: Montreal won 3-2 (OT)

No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning

Game 1: Tampa Bay won 2-1
Game 2: Tampa Bay won 2-1
Game 3: Carolina won 3-2 (OT)
Game 4: Tampa Bay won 6-4
Game 5: Tampa Bay won 2-0

No. 1 Colorado Avalanche vs. No. 2 Vegas Golden Knights

Game 1: Colorado won 7-1
Game 2: Colorado won 3-2 (OT)
Game 3: Vegas won 3-2
Game 4: Vegas won 5-1
Game 5: Vegas won 3-2 (OT)
Game 6: Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday at TBD

Islanders Have Opportunity to Win Series at Home in Game 6

During their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Islanders fell behind 2-1 before rallying back for three consecutive victories to take it. Now, they have an opportunity to do the same thing in their second-round matchup with the Bruins.

New York took control of the series by winning 4-1 at home in Game 4, then going on the road and winning Game 5 in Boston 5-4. After scoring only eight goals through the first three games, the Isles' are generating more offense at the right time as they look to advance past the second round for the second straight year.

Islanders coach Barry Trotz has plenty of postseason experience (he led the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2018), and he believes the fourth win of a playoff series is "always the toughest" to get.

"I think guys understand that," Trotz said, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "I don't think there's any magic to it. It's just understanding the reality of it and how hard it is to finish out a team."

In Game 5, the Bruins outshot the Islanders 44-19. However, they faced a 5-2 deficit entering the third period, which proved to be too much for them to overcome as they scored a pair of late goals, but none in the final 5 minutes and 17 seconds.

Boston now faces elimination for the first time this postseason (it beat Washington in five games in the first round). And if it can't force a Game 7, it will be eliminated in the second round for the third time in four years.

"We’re going to New York to win a game, and that’s all that’s on our mind," Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said, per Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press. "We want to put our best foot forward and win a hockey game—that’s it. That’s all we’re thinking about right now. This thing isn’t over."

If Boston is successful in winning Game 6, it will get to host Game 7. However, the Bruins may be heading into Wednesday's game without goaltender Tuukka Rask, who is questionable due to injury. They could have to turn to Jeremy Swayman, a 22-year-old rookie who has only 11 games of NHL experience.

Can Golden Knights Keep Momentum Going and Win Series at Home?

Through the first four games of the second-round series between the Avalanche and Golden Knights, the home team had won each contest. Colorado took a 2-0 lead, then Vegas bounced back with a pair of victories to even the series.

However, the Golden Knights halted that trend in Tuesday's Game 5 in Denver, as they pulled out a 3-2 overtime win to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Vegas faced a 2-0 deficit before Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault each scored a goal early in the third period, then Mark Stone scored the game-winner 50 seconds into OT.

Now, the Golden Knights are one win away from advancing, and they'll get to host Game 6 on Thursday night. If they can win, they'll be one of the final four teams in the postseason for the third time in their four seasons as an NHL franchise.

"We've been a team for four years that's been resilient. We don't sit back," Marchessault said, per NHL.com's Danny Webster. "We knew that we had a chance if we came out hard in the third period, and we did that. Good teams find a way to win a game."

That's what Vegas did in the first round, too. After blowing a 3-1 lead and allowing the Minnesota Wild to even the series, the Golden Knights won Game 7 at home 6-2. They'll aim to prevent the series from going the distance this time, especially because the Avalanche would get to host Game 7.

Things have taken a turn for the worse for Colorado, which started with a dominant 7-1 win in Game 1 and an overtime victory in Game 2. Since then, the Avs have scored only five goals in three games as they've struggled to capitalize on their scoring chances.

"We don’t have much time to do anything but rebound," Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog said, per Pat Graham of the Associated Press. "We’ve got to go into Vegas and win a hockey game. It’s as simple as that."

Colorado and Vegas each had 82 points during the regular season, tied for the most in the NHL, and whichever team wins this series between the West Division rivals may be the favorite to go on to win the Stanley Cup this year.