Ratings For Stanley Cup Playoffs Off To Strong Start

By Marcus Vanderberg 

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are off to a great start in the ratings category.

Versus set a network record by averaging 534,328 viewers during their opening night triple-header Wednesday. It was the best opening night in its six year of Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage and it was a 12 percent increase over last year.

North of the border, CBC saw a 29 percent increase over last year, averaging 1.58 million viewers for its two opening night playoff broadcasts.

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Locally, Game 1 of Washington-New York posted a 6.2 rating on Comcast SportsNet in the D.C. market, the second-highest Capitals rating in network history. In Pittsburgh, Penguins-Lightning delivered a 16.2 rating on ROOT Sports and Red Wings-Coyotes earned a 9.4 on Fox Sports Detroit.

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