FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

GAME 7 – CAPITALS VS. LIGHTNING TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

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

“The most critical thing to do in a Game 7 is impose your way, and impose your way early, whatever your style of play may be.” – Pierre McGuire

NBC Sports’ Coverage of Conference Finals Is Most-Watched In Three Years & Up 15% vs. 2017

2018 Stanley Cup Final Media Conference Call – Thursday, May 24, at 4 p.m. ET

2018 Stanley Cup Final Begins Monday, May 28, on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 23, 2018 – For the fourth consecutive season, the Eastern Conference Final will be decided in a winner-take-all Game 7 tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals look to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1998, while Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning aim to return to the Cup Final for the second time in four seasons.

NBC Sports.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 Game 7.

Six-time Emmy Award-winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Emmy Award-winner Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Game 7 from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. Pre-game coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN with NHL Live, hosted by Kathryn Tappen alongside analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury.

The winner of the Eastern Conference Final will advance to face the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, which begins Monday night. Vegas advanced to the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday on NBC.

The Capitals staved off elimination in Game 6 with 3-0 shutout win against the Lightning in Washington D.C. on Monday. T.J. Oshie scored twice and Braden Holtby made 24 saves to force tonight’s Game 7 in Tampa. Washington is 4-11 all-time in Game 7s, while Tampa Bay boasts a 5-2 record in Game 7 showdowns. With a victory, the Lightning can become the first team since 1974-75 to lose Game 1 and Game 2 at home and rally to win a Conference Final. The Capitals have appeared in the most Game 7s of any NHL team (11) since 2008.

Pierre McGuire on Capitals-Lightning Game 7: “Very seldom do players get to play in a Game 7, let alone get to play in a Game 7 to go to the Stanley Cup Final. This is a unique moment for most players in their careers.

The most critical thing to do in a Game 7 is impose your way, and impose your way early, whatever your style of play may be.”

NBC Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final will begin with Game 1 on Monday, May 28. Networks and times will be announced following tonight’s Game 7.

***

CONFERENCE FINALS COVERAGE IS MOST-WATCHED IN THREE YEARS & UP 15% VS. 2017

NBC Sports’ coverage of the NHL’s Eastern and Western Conference Finals continues to generate viewership milestones for each series and for individual games. The Conference Finals are averaging a combined Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.910 million viewers through Monday (11 games) across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, making it the most-watched Conference Final round in three years (2015, 1.945 million) and up 15% vs. last year (1.656 million). Click here for more information.

2018 STANLEY CUP FINAL MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL – THURSDAY, MAY 24, AT 4 P.M. ET

NBC Sports Group’s NHL broadcast team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst), Pierre McGuire (‘Inside the Glass’ Analyst) and Mike Milbury (analyst), as well as executive producer Sam Flood will preview the upcoming 2018 Stanley Cup Final on a media conference call Thursday, May 24, at 4 p.m. ET. Click here for more information.

GAME 7 “BY THE NUMBERS”

.585     Home teams are a combined 100-71 in Game 7s, including 1-1 during these playoffs.

.743     The team that scores first is 127-44 in Game 7s, including 1-1 during these playoffs.

1.000   Tampa Bay is 3-0 all-time at home in Game 7s.

3          Tampa Bay has appeared in a Game 7 in an Eastern Conference Final in three of the past four years (1-1).

4          Four Lightning players have scored a game-winning goal in a decisive Game 7 (Braydon Coburn, Dan Girardi, Alex Killorn and Chris Kunitz).

6          Total points Alex Ovechkin has tallied in 11 career Game 7s.

11        Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin are making their 11th Game 7 appearance, tied for second-most among active players.

***

The following is the telecast schedule for the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Networks and times will be announced following tomorrow’s Game 7.

2018 STANLEY CUP FINAL SCHEDULE

Date Game
Monday, May 28 Game 1
Wednesday, May 30 Game 2
Saturday, June 2 Game 3
Monday, June 4 Game 4
Thursday, June 7 Game 5*
Sunday, June 10 Game 6*
Wednesday, June 13 Game 7*

*If necessary

***

NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON TO SURROUND CAPS-LIGHTNING GAME 7 WITH COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL COVERAGE

NBC Sports Washington will surround tonight’s Game 7 with more than two hours of live Capitals news, analysis and commentary from Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Fla. 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 the game, 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–