FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 20th, 2014

SIDNEY CROSBY AND PITTSBURGH PENGUINS HOST CLAUDE GIROUX AND IN-STATE RIVAL PHILADELPHIA FLYERS ON “WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY” AT 8 P.M. ET

Penguins Host Flyers on Wednesday Night Rivalry at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN; Flyers-Penguins NHL Rivals Tomorrow at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Flyers Visit Chicago Blackhawks Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Notre Dame Hosts Niagara in Weekend Series; Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Live Extra, Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Wednesday Night Rivalry Viewership Up 39% to Start 2014 Season, Delivers Records for NBC Sports Live Extra

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 20, 2014 – NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry coverage continues this week featuring two of the NHL’s most prolific offensive stars, when Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins host Claude Giroux and the Philadelphia Flyers in a Keystone State showdown this Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. This week’s hockey coverage begins tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, when the Flyers travel to Chicago to face Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks, and concludes this weekend with a pair of college hockey matchups featuring Notre Dame and Niagara.

NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will provide live coverage of Flyers-Blackhawks, Flyers-Penguins and both Niagara-Notre Dame college hockey contests.

NHL game coverage begins one hour prior to puck drop with NHL Live, NBC Sports Group’s NHL pre- and post-game studio show. Kathryn Tappen anchors Tuesday’s coverage alongside analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones, while Liam McHugh hosts Wednesday’s coverage with Milbury, Jones, and TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, who joins NBC Sports Group this year with more than 35 years of hockey reporting experience.


WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY
: FLYERS AT PENGUINS – WEDNESDAY AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

In-state animosities will be brought to the forefront on Wednesday Night Rivalry this week, when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The Penguins enter Wednesday’s contest following a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders at home on Saturday night. The Flyers will look to jump start their season with a win against the rival Penguins, following a contest in Chicago tomorrow night against the Blackhawks on NBCSN at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, analyst Eddie Olczyk and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire will have the call from CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

FLYERS-PENGUINS NHL RIVALS – TOMORROW AT 11:30 P.M. ET

NBCSN will present an episode of NHL Rivals featuring the Flyers and Penguins tomorrow night at 11:30 p.m. ET following coverage of Flyers-Blackhawks. This week’s episode, which debuted last year in the first season of NHL Rivals, will feature new interviews with players, executives and members of the media, including Flyers President Paul Holmgren, Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall, and Penguins forward Chris Kunitz.

 

FLYERS AT BLACKHAWKS – TOMORROW AT 8:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

This week’s NHL coverage begins tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, when the Flyers visit the Chicago Blackhawks in a rematch of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. In their most recent meeting late last season, Giroux beat Blackhawks goaltender Antti Raanta with 4.2 seconds left in overtime to give Philadelphia a 3-2 win.

Both the Flyers and Blackhawks enter tomorrow night’s game following overtime wins on Saturday, with game-winning goals from their captains. Chicago defeated Nashville 2-1 courtesy of Jonathan Toews’ shorthanded game-winning goal, while Philadelphia defeated Dallas 6-5 on Claude Giroux’s power play goal midway through overtime for the Flyers’ first win of the season.

Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (analyst) will provide live commentary from United Center in Chicago, Ill.

 

COLLEGE HOCKEY – NOTRE DAME VS. NIAGARA – FRIDAY AND SATURDAY ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA AND NBCSN

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2014-15 college hockey season continues with a two-game series this weekend featuring the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Niagara Purple Eagles. The first game will stream exclusively via NBC Sports Live Extra on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the second game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Notre Dame enters this weekend’s series following a sweep of Lake Superior State, with victories of 5-1 and 5-3 last weekend in South Bend. Niagara is coming off two losses at Robert Morris last weekend.

Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Anson Carter (analyst) will have the call from Compton Family Ice Arena in Notre Dame, Ind.

All games will be live streamed via NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets.

Following is this week’s NHL and college coverage on NBCSN:

 

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Tues., October 21 NHL Live NBCSN 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago NBCSN 8:30 p.m.
NHL Rivals – Flyers-Penguins NBCSN 11:30 p.m.
Wed., October 22 NHL Live NBCSN 7 p.m.
Wednesday Night Rivalry – Philadelphia at Pittsburgh NBCSN 8 p.m.
Fri., October 24 College Hockey – Niagara at Notre Dame NBC Sports Live Extra 7:30 p.m.
Sat., October 25 College Hockey – Niagara at Notre Dame NBCSN 7 p.m.

 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY VIEWERSHIP UP 39% TO START 2014 SEASON, DELIVERS RECORDS FOR NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA

NBCSN’s first two Wednesday Night Rivalry telecasts, featuring the Flyers and Boston Bruins on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and the Bruins and Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, Oct. 15, have delivered 766,000 average viewers, up 39% from the average of last year’s first two WNR games (553,000).

In addition, last week’s Bruins-Red Wings matchup was the most-streamed Wednesday Night Rivalry game ever in total visits (21,000), uniques (19,000) and live starts (41,000), excluding season openers, Stadium Series or Winter Classic games. In addition, those metrics all saw triple-digit increases from last year’s Wednesday Night Rivalry per game average during final quarter of the 2013 calendar year (uniques up 191%; visits up 200%; live starts up 240%).

Flyers-Bruins on opening night set records for NBC Sports Live Extra, delivering 41,000 uniques and 1.6 million minutes, the best-ever in both categories for an authenticated regular-season game.

 

2014-15 REGULAR SEASON COVERAGE ON NBC & NBCSN

NBC Sports Group will deliver coverage of 103 NHL regular-season games during the 2014-15 season, featuring 14 games on NBC and 89 games on NBCSN. All games will be streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra. Click here for more information on NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive NHL coverage this season.

 

NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS

NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NHL markets such as Boston (Bruins), Philadelphia (Flyers), Washington D.C. (Capitals), Chicago (Blackhawks) and the Bay Area (Sharks), will air more than 300 live NHL games and surround the 2013-14 NHL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the teams that matter most.

-NBC SPORTS GROUP-