The NHL version of Bird and Magic did not give NBC much of a boost on Sunday.
The battle between Sidney Crosby‘s Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin‘s Washington Capitals drew a 1.0/2 overnight on NBC, even with the comparable regional telecasts last year. The 1.0 could not match the 1.1 overnight for a much less hyped Rangers/Flyers game last Sunday.
This begs the question of whether or not the duels between Crosby and Ovechkin are must-see-TV. The previous time the two NHL stars played each other on NBC, the game also drew a 1.0 overnight rating, with a 0.9 final rating.
While Penguins/Capitals was the lowest rated live sporting event of the weekend, the 1.0 overnight came very close to two college basketball games on CBS; the Missouri Valley Conference Championship drew a 1.1/2, while Purdue/Michigan drew a 1.2/2.
