NHL Scripts Viewership Record For Stanley Cup Playoffs

The National Hockey League viewership set a new benchmark in the Stanley Cup playoffs first round, with an average audience of 1.2 million viewers across all channels. This also marked the highest attendance for an opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the United States of America.

In the United States, the Stanley Cup playoffs were broadcast by the Disney Group (ESPN/ESPN2) and Warner Bros Discovery (TNT/TBS/truTV) on a shared split deal. It was the highest viewership for both ESPN and TNT individually, as well as for the first round of the playoffs under the current rights deal. In comparison with last year, the viewership is up by a huge margin of 68%.

The Stanley Cup playoffs featured some interesting series with two sweeps, five of them going into Game 6 and one that went into Game 7. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens matchup went to Game 7 after the two franchises battled for the lead throughout the series.

The Game 7, broadcast by TNT, recorded a massive viewership of 2.3 million viewers on cable. It was also the highest viewership ever recorded for a first-round game that featured a Canadian side.

The Pennsylvania battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers also set a new benchmark. The coverage of Game 1 on ESPN recorded an average audience of 2.1 million viewers, the most for any non-Game 7 match.

Record Breaker: Most-Watched Opening Round of the #StanleyCup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/zQxjfMuxsJ

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) May 5, 2026

The Flyers won the game and later went on to clinch the series in Game 6, though the Penguins put up a strong fight. The Penguins tried their best to extend the series into a final clincher duel.

Artûrs Šilovs did his best, keeping the net unshaken for a regular-time shutout before Cam York scored in overtime to get the Flyers across. In other results, both Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche swept their respective series and knocked out wildcards Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings.

The 2025 Stanley Cup finalists, the Edmonton Oilers, were brutally knocked out by the Anaheim Ducks in six games. Vegas Golden Knights defeated the newly named Utah Mammoth in a similar number of games. So did Minnesota Wild against the Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres against the Boston Bruins. It’s been a solid run for the Sabres, who ended a decade-and-more-long drought of playoff misses this year.

Colorado Avalanche continue opening round magic in second round

The Colorado Avalanche are playing the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to determine one of the finalists for the Western Conference finals. The Avalanche, fresh off a sweeping series victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round, are continuing their domination against the Wild too.

The Avalanche entered the playoffs as President’s Trophy winners. In the last twelve years, a team that has won that trophy has not made the Stanley Cup finals, with eight of those eliminations coming in the second round. They aren’t giving statistics any advantage this year, as they pummeled 14 goals in two games to cement their superiority.

The Avalanche defeated the Wild 6-9 in the first game. Cale Makar scored twice in the third period and assisted once. Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and assisted twice, while Devon Toews scored once and had three assists. Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves.

The second game wasn’t as high-scoring as the first one. The Avalanche won the game 2-5, with MacKinnon registering three points and both Martin Necas and Gabriel Landeskog scoring and assisting once. In the other series that has kicked off, the Carolina Hurricanes are also up 2-0, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in both games played so far.

The Vegas Golden Knights also started their series on a high note, securing a 3-1 win over the Ducks.

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