Game 5 Notches Best Rating Of '16 Stanley Cup Final, But Dips From Previous Years

Thursday night's Stanley Cup Final Game 5 -- a 4-2 win for the Sharks over the Penguins at Consol Energy Center that sends the series back to San Jose -- produced a 3.6 overnight rating on NBC. That figure marks the best overnight rating of the '16 Final, but is down 5.3% from a 3.8 overnight for last year's Blackhawks-Lightning Game 5, which aired on a Saturday night. The 3.6 is also down from a 4.7 overnight for Kings-Rangers Game 5 in '14 (which was the series finale) and a 4.0 overnight for Blackhawks-Bruins Game 5 in '13. Thursday’s Game 5 delivered a 36.9 rating in the Pittsburgh market, the highest-rated Penguins game on NBCU nets in the market since Game 7 of the '09 Stanley Cup Final. It also produced an 8.4 rating in the S.F.-San Jose-Oakland market, making it the highest-rated Sharks game ever on NBCU nets in the region.