The Stanley Cup Playoffs got off to a memorable start on the ice, and a record start on NBC.
The first two days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 620,000 viewers across NBC Sports’ TV and digital platforms, up 13% from last year (551K) and its highest two-day average on record.
Wednesday’s Canadiens-Flyers Game 1 averaged 764,000 on NBCSN (805K including streaming), the second-most watched first round opener ever on the network. Flyers-Penguins averaged 844,000 in 2012.
Philadelphia’s win, which peaked with 840,000 from 10:30-10:45 PM ET, increased 19% from the comparable window on night two of last year’s playoffs (Maple Leafs-Bruins: 640K).
On Tuesday, the five-overtime Blue Jackets-Lightning Game 1 averaged 709,000 over the course of more than six hours (755K including streaming). The game, which began at 3 PM ET, averaged 957,000 during nearly four hours of overtime and 1.27 million during its final two hours. Viewership peaked at 1.85 million from 9:15 PM ET through the conclusion.
Due to the length of Blue Jackets-Lightning, Tuesday’s scheduled Hurricanes-Bruins opener was pushed to Wednesday morning. Despite starting at 11 AM ET, that game averaged 437,000 viewers (485K including streaming) — not far below the mid-afternoon and late night games thus far. By comparison, Islanders-Capitals averaged 459,000 later that afternoon and Canucks-Blues 464,000 later in the night.
Rounding out the early action, Blackhawks-Golden Knights averaged 489,000 Tuesday night (526K including streaming) — up 22% from Golden Knights-Sharks in the same window on night one of last year’s playoffs (401K). Abbreviated coverage of Coyotes-Avalanche Game 1 averaged 626,000 on Wednesday.
CORRECTION: Canadiens-Flyers was up 19% from last year, not 30%. Blackhawks-Golden Knights was up 22% from last year, not down 6%. The original version of this post mistakenly listed comparisons to the similar 2018 windows.
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports PR, ShowBuzz Daily 8.12, 8.13]
