The Stanley Cup Playoffs are off to an expectedly strong start for Rogers Media, with ratings for game two of the first round last weekend up 181% compared with round one in 2016 – when no Canadian teams made the post-season.

The biggest draw was the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Washington Capitals, with the double overtime win drawing an average audience of 3.64 million viewers on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. Audiences peaked at 5.34 million for the start of the second overtime.

Game two of the Calgary Flames against the Anaheim Ducks drew an average audience of 1.34 million on CBC, while the second match of the series between the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins had an average audience of just over 1 million viewers on Sportsnet.

The Hockey Central pre-game show on CBC and Sportsnet had an average audience of 1.3 million viewers on Saturday night.

The first game of the Toronto Raptors NBA Playoff run had the unfortunate scheduling of being against the Stanley Cup Playoffs Saturday night. That game saw an average audience of 451,000 on Sportsnet One.

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