Blackhawks' win earns highest prelim rating for non-OT Game 5 in eight years

Chicago Blackhawks fans celebrate a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period of Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey finals on Sunday, June 6, 2010, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Stanley Cup final continues to draw big TV numbers in Canada and south of the border.

Chicago's win Sunday earned the highest preliminary television rating in the U.S. for a non-overtime Game 5 in the Stanley Cup final in eight years.

Chicago's 7-4 victory over the Flyers on Sunday night on NBC drew a 4.0 overnight rating and 7 share. That's up 54 per cent from the 2.6 for Game 5 of the Detroit-Pittsburgh series last year.

It's the best for a Game 5 that didn't go to overtime since a 4.5 for Carolina-Detroit in 2002, before the NHL lockout.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets.

In Canada, Game 5 drew 2.439 million CBC viewers. That was up from the 1.612 million who tuned into last year's Game 5. But comparing the numbers is difficult because a new audience-measuring system that has seen sports ratings skyrocket was introduced in September.

—With files from The Canadian Press