Despite pairing the league’s smallest U.S. market against a Canadian team, Canadiens-Sabres delivered the two largest audiences of a strong Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Monday’s Canadiens-Sabres second round Stanley Cup playoff Game 7 averaged 2.96 million viewers on ESPN, trailing only Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 7 on NBCSN in 2013 (3.35M) as the most-watched second round game to air on a cable network. Across all networks, it was the most-watched since Islanders-Flyers Game 7 on NBC in 2020, which despite airing over Labor Day weekend in the “bubble” still rode a Kentucky Derby lead-in to an audience of 3.04 million (per Nielsen and Adobe Analytics).
Some first round games have drawn larger audiences more recently, including one on cable — Panthers-Bruins Game 7 on TNT Sports in 2023 (3.10M).
Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with “Big Data” from smart TVs and set-top boxes. Those changes will generally skew historical comparisons, particularly to years prior to 2020.
Montreal’s overtime win delivered the largest audience of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, surpassing the previous high set by Game 6 of the same series two nights earlier — which averaged a 1.3 rating and nearly 2.7 million viewers on ABC, the largest audience for a second round Game 6 since the aforementioned 2013 Red Wings-Blackhawks series on NBCSN (2.72M).
The Sabres’ series-tying win increased 18% in viewership from last year’s second round window on ABC, Jets-Stars Game 6.
With the caveat that it was the longest series of the round, Canadiens-Sabres generated four of the nine largest audiences in the second round of the playoffs, more than any other series. The four-game Hurricanes-Flyers and six-game Avalanche-Wild accounted for three each.
Across the full postseason, the series accounts for four of the eleven most-watched games and the Canadiens have played in five — including their first round Game 7 against the Lightning. Montreal has played in more of the top eleven games than any other team.
Most-watched games of 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs thru second round
The full second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.9 million viewers across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports, up 55% from last year and the most-watched second round on record. The postseason is now averaging 1.4 million (+63%), surpassing 2024 as the highest early round average on record.
Including Canadian viewership on CBC, SportsNet and TVAS, the first two rounds of the playoffs averaged 3.3 million — up from 2.8 million last year and the highest on record. Canadiens-Sabres Game 7 averaged a combined 8.0 million across the U.S. and Canada.
