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Friday, May 14th, 2021

MIKE ‘DOC’ EMRICK NARRATES TEASE TO OPEN 2021 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS ON NETWORKS OF NBCUNIVERSAL

Tease to Open Bruins-Capitals in Primetime Immediately Following the Preakness Stakes at 7:15 p.m. ET on NBC

2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Schedule on NBC Sports Set Through Saturday, May 22

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 14, 2021 – Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, one of the most acclaimed sportscasters of all time, narrates a tease that will open NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs tomorrow night. This will be the 16^th consecutive season in which the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be presented across the networks of NBCUniversal.

The Emrick-narrated tease will air in tomorrow night’s open when the playoffs begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on NBC with the Boston Bruins traveling to Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. to face the Capitals in Game 1 of their First Round series. NBC Sports’ coverage of Bruins-Capitals begins immediately following its coverage of the 146^th Preakness Stakes.

In the piece, Emrick, who retired from broadcasting prior to the 2021 season, paints the picture of the unique journey teams had to pursue during the 2020-21 NHL regular season to earn a coveted spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which provides a chance for every team and player to play for and win the greatest trophy in all of sports: the Stanley Cup. Click here to view the tease.

The 2020-21 NHL regular season produced many viewership milestones. Following are some of the highlights:

• NBC’s most watched game of the season was the season opener between Washington and Pittsburgh, which averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.731 million viewers on Jan. 17, which ranks as the most-watched non-outdoor NHL regular-season game in three years (2018; PIT-STL; 1.896 million).
• Opening Night of the 2021 NHL regular season averaged a combined TAD of 778,000 viewers across all three NBCSN games, making it the most-watched NHL Opening Night in seven years (2013-14; 935,000 one game between WAS-CHI) and the most-watched Opening Night with multiple telecasts on record.
• Wednesday Night Hockey finished the regular season with an average TAD of 508,000 viewers across 15 games, an increase of 15% from 2019-20 (441,000 viewers over 21 games) and the best delivery for NBCSN’s premier window in four years (2016-17; 510,000 viewers).
• With a TAD of 1.075 million viewers, the Boston-Philadelphia showdown at Lake Tahoe was NBCSN’s most-watched NHL regular season game on record, and the most-watched NHL regular season game on cable in 19 years (2002; SJ-DET on ESPN; 1.278 million).
• This season was the most-streamed NHL regular season in Average Minute Audience (AMA) across NBC Sports digital platforms, averaging 10,800 viewers. NBC Sports Digital’s live stream of the Boston-Philadelphia matchup at Lake Tahoe delivered an AMA of 49,700 viewers, marking the most-streamed NHL regular season game on record.

Yesterday, NBC Sports announced its comprehensive coverage schedule for the start of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs through Saturday, May 22. Below is this weekend’s schedule across NBC and NBCSN:

*immediately following game coverage

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