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Playoff viewership way up through first two days

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The 2014 NHL playoffs, which features a new playoff structure that puts an emphasis on early divisional matchups, has been very popular so far.

The first two days of the postseason featured seven games and the contests averaged 448,000 viewers on NBCSN/CNBC. That’s up 43% from 2013 when an average of 313,000 viewers per game (six contests total) tuned in to see the first two days of playoff action.

Not surprisingly, the St. Louis Blues’ 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in triple-overtime was a big draw as 697,000 average viewers watched the game. It ranks second on the all-time list of NBCSN first round Game 1s, behind the opener of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in 2012 (that game drew 844,000 viewers).

The contests have also been popular on NBC Sports Live Extra. Among authentication-required NHL games, the Blues-Blackhawks contest attracted a record 161,000 live starts.

Related:

WATCH LIVE: Detroit Red Wings at Boston Bruins (Game 1)

WATCH LIVE: Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning (Game 2)

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