FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 21st, 2018

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING CAN ADVANCE TO STANLEY CUP FINAL WITH GAME 6 WIN VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

Pre-Game Coverage on NBCSN Begins at 7 p.m. ET with NHL Live

Conference Finals Continue to Deliver Ratings Increases vs. 2017

Expansion Vegas Golden Knights Advance to Stanley Cup Final Following 2-1 Victory Over Winnipeg Jets on Sunday

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 21, 2018 – NBC Sports’ exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs continues tonight with Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as Steven Stamkos and the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning can advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history with a victory over Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Pre-game coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with NHL Live.

If the Capitals win tonight’s Game 6, they will force a decisive Game 7 in Tampa on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final at stake.

On Sunday, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 2-1, in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on NBC to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights join the Toronto Arenas (1918) and the St. Louis Blues (1968) as the only teams in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural seasons.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of the remaining games.

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“NHL Playoff Pass” on NBC Sports Group Press Box provides a quick daily overview of Stanley Cup Playoff coverage, plus information and highlights. The Pass will be published weekdays to preview that evening’s games. Friday editions will include weekend information.

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THE PASS – MONDAY, MAY 21 (All times ET)

Time Coverage Network Commentators
7 p.m. NHL Live NBCSN Liam McHugh, Keith Jones, Jeremy Roenick
8 p.m. Game 6 – Tampa Bay at Washington NBCSN Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire

 

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS – EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL GAME 6 AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN – LIGHTNING LEAD SERIES 3-2

The Lightning look to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history and for the second time in the last four seasons. With a victory, Tampa Bay would become the first team in NHL history since 1974-75 to lose Game 1 and Game 2 on home ice in a Conference Final and still advance. Andrei Vasilevskiy has made 100 saves on 106 shots (.943 SV %) in the last three games (all Tampa Bay wins) and is 5-1 on the road in these playoffs.

The Capitals are led by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ovechkin, both of whom have tallied at least 21 points in this postseason. Kuznetsov scored his 11th goal of these playoffs in Game 5 to extend his point streak to eight games and also set a franchise record for points in a single postseason (22).

CONFERENCE FINALS CONTINUE TO DELIVER RATINGS INCREASES VS. 2017

  • Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, in which the Golden Knights defeated the Jets, 2-1, on Sunday on NBC to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, delivered a 1.71 overnight rating, up 18% vs. the comparable game in 2017.

 

  • Locally, Game 5 produced a 17.9 rating in Las Vegas, the best-ever rating in the market for a NHL game. The Golden Knights’ win generated a 36 share in Las Vegas, meaning more than one in every three TVs in use in the city were tuned to NBC during the game.

 

  • Game 5 of Capitals-Lightning Eastern Conference Final on NBC on Saturday night, immediately following coverage of the Preakness Stakes, averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 2.969 million viewers according to fast national data provided by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics, to rank as NBC’s most-watched Conference Final game since 2015 (CHI-ANA Game 7; 4.636 million). Viewership was up 25% vs. last year’s comparable game (NSH-ANA Game 5; 2.378 million) and up 30% vs. 2016 (STL-SJ Game 4; 2.290 million).

 

  • Locally, Tampa delivered a 12.0 rating for Capitals-Lightning Game 5 on NBC, the market’s best rating for a non-Stanley Cup Final NHL game on record on the network. Washington posted a 7.1 rating.

 

  • Game 4 of the Golden Knights-Jets Western Conference Final on NBCSN on Friday produced a 1.18 overnight rating, up 7% vs. last year’s comparable game.

 

  • Locally, Game 4 delivered a 16.3 rating in Las Vegas, now ranking as the second best-ever rating for an NHL game in the market behind Sunday’s Game 5.


NBC SPORTS GROUP’S UPCOMING CONFERENCE FINAL SCHEDULE

The following is NBC Sports Group’s remaining Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Final schedule through Wednesday, May 23:

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Mon., May 21 Game 6 – Tampa Bay at Washington NBCSN 8 p.m.
Wed., May 23 Game 7 – Washington at Tampa Bay* NBCSN 8 p.m.

*If necessary

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and Connected TVs – will live stream all games airing on NBC, NBCSN, USA Network, CNBC, and Golf Channel, all via “TV Everywhere” throughout the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For more information on NBC Sports Group’s overall Stanley Cup Playoff coverage, please click here.


NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON TO SURROUND CAPS-LIGHTNING SERIES WITH COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL COVERAGE

NBC Sports Washington will surround all seven potential Conference Final games with more than two hours of live Capitals news, analysis and commentary. Coverage will include pre-game and post-game live from Capital One Arena for Caps home games and from Amalie Arena in Tampa for Caps road games.  Caps FaceOff will be presented for a half hour leading into Caps GameTime pre-game show coverage taking you right up to game time. After games, Caps Overtime will extend post-game coverage for up to an hour following Caps Extra. The shows will be fan-focused, allowing Caps fans to participate in coverage of the day’s most compelling topics and storylines.

The Caps GameTime pre-game show and Caps Extra post-game show will be hosted by Rob Carlin, and will feature analyst Alan May, as well as Caps Insider Tarik El-Bashir and Caps game broadcasters Joe Beninati and Craig “Locker” Laughlin.  Caps FaceOff and Caps Overtime will be hosted by 106.7 the Fan’s Grant Paulsen, with guest analysts including Courtney Laughlin and “hot takes” from Caps fans across the region.


ABOUT NBC SPORTS RADIO 

NBC Sports Radio is a joint venture between NBC Sports Group and Westwood One and will broadcast every Stanley Cup Playoff game through the Stanley Cup Final. Sam Rosen (play-by-play), Darren Pang (analyst) and Billy Jaffe (reporter) have the call for Capitals-Lightning. The joint venture provides sports talk programming to radio stations nationwide and is distributed by Westwood One. Content includes hourly sports news updates, daily features, and long-form shows. On social media, join the NBC Sports Radio community on Twitter at twitter.com/nbcsportsradio. To listen live or on demand, or to find a station, visit www.nbcsportsradio.com.


STREAMING COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, and Chromecast.

–NBC SPORTS–