Game 7 Of Stanley Cup Final Posts Historic TV Numbers As Florida Panthers Edge Connor McDavid’s Oilers For First NHL Title

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Game 7 of the epic 2024 Stanley Cup Final was worthy of the hype — and the TV ratings reflected the historic night. An average audience of 16.3 million viewers tuned in across multiple networks in North America, making Monday’s clinching tilt the second-most-watched NHL game in 20 years.

After a wild series that went from a possible sweep to a potentially historic comeback, the league crowned its fourth first-time champion in seven years as the host Florida Panthers beat Connor McDavid‘s Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in the deciding game.

The entire seven-game Final averaged 8.8 million North American viewers, the most since the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins in an Original Six matchup in 2013. Data on North American Stanley Cup Final TV ratings has been tracked since 2004.

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Monday night’s Game 7 aired on ABC in the U.S., streaming on ESPN+, and on CBC, SN and TVA Sports in hockey-mad Canada. And mad they are in the Great White North as an American club won the Cup for a 30th consecutive season. No Canadian team has claimed the Greatest Trophy in Sports since the Montreal Canadiens beat Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in 1993.

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McDavid, the world’s undisputed best player and among the greatest of all time, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the full playoffs but failed to cement his legacy with a Cup title. His Oilers lost the first three games to the Panthers but rallied to win the next three and force the 18th Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final history. McDavid was held off the score sheet in the last two games of the series after scoring four points in each of the previous two.

As is the 30-year custom for the Panthers, who entered the NHL in the 1993-94 season, fake rats rained down on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena after the clinching win. It was the franchise’s third trip to the Cup Final, including last year’s five-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.