For Game 3, Las Vegas led all markets with an 18.3 local rating, followed by DC with a 15.2GETTY IMAGES
NBCSN drew a 2.5 overnight rating for Golden Knights-Capitals on Saturday night, marking the best Stanley Cup Final Game 3 since Blackhawks-Lightning drew a 2.9 overnight in '15. The 2.5 rating on Saturday is up from a 2.2 for Penguins-Predators last year. Las Vegas led all markets with an 18.3 local rating, followed by DC (15.2), Baltimore (7.5), Buffalo (6.4) and Pittsburgh (5.1). The 15.2 local rating in DC marks NBC Sports Group's best figure on record for a Caps game on cable TV (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
PRESS PASS: In Toronto, Steve Simmons wonders why the NHL "can’t seem to comprehend what it is to pull off a big event." Neither Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin nor Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury were "made available to the media" during the Stanley Cup Final off-day on Saturday, while Golden Knights C Ryan Carpenter was. Simmons: "Imagine an off-day in the NBA Finals, with Steph Curry and LeBron James not available but the league substituting Quinn Cook and Jose Calderon in their places?" The NHL is the "participation ribbon of big time sporting championships," and the hockey press, "so used to being slapped in the face, takes the annual slapping, grouses to themselves about it, and carries on" (TORONTO SUN, 6/4).
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: In DC, Scott Allen notes the Capitals' radio broadcast of Game 4 tonight "will feature a nostalgic blast from the past" as Ron Weber, who "called the first 1,936 games in franchise history as the Capitals’ original radio play-by-play voice, will join current broadcasters John Walton, Ken Sabourin and Ben Raby in the booth" during the pregame show and through the first intermission. Weber was "pushed out as the Capitals’ radio voice after the conclusion of his 23rd season with the team" in April '97 (WASHINGTON POST, 6/4).
