The NHL extended its massive viewership tear during the postseason’s second round, once again posting unprecedented audiences in the league’s current set of U.S. media deals.
ESPN said it averaged 2.2 million viewers for the now-complete second round, up 76% from 2025 and the largest such figure in the NHL rights agreement that began five years ago.
That run culminated with an average of 3 million viewers Monday for Montreal’s Game 7 overtime victory over Buffalo, representing the largest audience thus far of the entire playoffs. Saturday’s Game 6 of the Canadiens-Sabres series averaged 2.7 million viewers, marking the most-watched game of the postseason until Monday.
TNT Sports, meanwhile, finished its second-round coverage with an average per-game audience of 1.9 million viewers, up 33% from last year and also its most-watched second round since beginning its NHL rights in 2021. Including the first round, the network is averaging 1.3 million viewers for the NHL playoffs, up 51% from a year ago.
Notably, women have been a key growth driver, as TNT Sports said its NHL playoffs viewership among females ages two and older was up 66% through the second round.
