Friday night’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final series between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers delivered the highest number of viewers of the series with 4.2 million people tuning in in the United States according to Nielsen fast-nationals. The number was reported by Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis who said the game drew 28% less viewers than the last Game 6 two years ago between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The game peaked at 4.9 million viewers as the Oilers evened the series at three games apiece after being down three games to none in the series. While a high for the series, Lewis reports there have been 20 Game 6’s in the past 30 years and this game had the fifth-lowest audience.
Lewis also said three of the bottom five games on the list involved a Canadian team. The Carolina Hurricanes-Edmonton Oilers series in 2006 and the New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks series in 1994 were the other two in addition to Friday night’s game.
Game 7 of the series will be played tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN+. The Oilers will be looking for their sixth Stanley Cup win and first since 1990. The Florida Panthers will be looking to hoist the Stanley Cup trophy for the first time in franchise history.
Sean McDonough is calling the games on ABC along with Ray Ferraro and Emily Kaplan. Steve Levy, Mark Messier and PK Subban provide analysis before the game and in between periods.
