The series won by the Chicago Blackhawks over the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games averaged nearly 5.6 million viewers on NBC and NBCSN. It trails only the six-game 2013 series between Chicago and the Boston Bruins, which averaged almost 5.8 million. NBC said Tuesday the audience was up 11 percent from the 5 million for last year’s five-game series between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers.
Nielsen’s records go back to 1994.
Monday’s Game 6 drew more than 8 million viewers to make it the fourth-largest audience for an NHL game on record.
Game 6 averaged a 41.0 rating and 57 share in the Chicago area, a record for the market. That means that 41 percent of homes with televisions and 57 percent of households with TVs in use at the time were tuned to the clincher