• by Wayne Friedman , June 13, 2019

After a lackluster start, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals scored the biggest results for a finals game in nine years -- as well as yielding an overall 8% rise for an entire seven-game series versus the year before.

The seven-game series -- where the St. Louis Blues won their first championship over the Boston Bruins -- posted an average Nielsen 5.3 million total viewers per game.

A year ago, the six-game NHL Stanley Cup series posted 4.9 million viewers.

Contributing to the rise was Game Seven -- earning 8.25 million viewers (and a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49). This was the best result for a Stanley Cup game since 2010’s Chicago Blackhawks-Philadelphia Flyers series, when Game Six pulled in 8.3 million viewers.

For games one through three: 5.3 million viewers, on NBC: 3.4 million (on NBCSN); and 2.9 million (on NBCSN). Adult 18-49 viewers came in at 2.1 million, 1.5 million, and 1.2 million, respectively.

For games four through six, all on NBC: 6.5 million, 5.5 million and 5.1 million viewers, respectively. Adult 18-49 viewers came in at 2.6 million, 2.2 million, and 2.0 million, respectively.