Kings-Blackhawks game 7 is most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final NHL playoff game on record

Kings-Blackhawks averages 4.137 million viewers, peaks at 5.5 million from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET

Buffalo was watching

The Los Angeles Kings-Chicago Blackhawks Game 7 overtime thriller Sunday night averaged 4.137 million viewers, according to The Nielsen Co., making it:

•The most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final NHL playoff game on record;

•The most-watched NHL game ever on NBCSN; and

•The most-watched non-Olympic program ever on NBCSN.

Sunday night's Western Conference Final Game 7 (8:01-11:16 p.m. ET) - which pitted the past two Stanley Cup champions against each other and was won, 5-4, by the Kings in overtime - surpassed Game 7 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Final between the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins (ESPN, June 1, 4.049 million) as the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final NHL playoff game on record.

Kings-Blackhawks surpassed Game 3 of last year's Stanley Cup Final between the Blackhawks and Boston Bruins (4.001 million) as the most-watched NHL game ever on NBCSN and the most-watched non-Olympic program ever on the network. It also had more viewers than USA-Russia (4.100 million) men's ice hockey during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

NBCSN was the No. 1 network on cable during the game Sunday night. It was the second-most watched cable program of the day among average viewers, P18-49 (1.909) and P25-54 (2.111), trailing only HBO's "Game of Thrones." It also outperformed all broadcast programming among P18-49 and P25-54.

The game peaked at 5.5 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 p.m., and delivered a 2.35 HH rating.

Originally reported yesterday, following are some local ratings notes and highlights regarding Sunday night's Game 7:

•The 22.7 HH rating in Chicago was the best Blackhawks game delivery ever on NBCSN.

•Los Angeles drew its best round three metered market rating ever on NBCSN with a 4.8 rating.

•With the Rangers awaiting the winner in the Stanley Cup Final, New York delivered a 3.7 rating, its best rating on NBCSN ever for a non-Stanley Cup Final game that did not include a New York team.

Following are the Top 10 markets for Kings-Blackhawks Game 7:

Digitally, the live stream of Game 7 produced record metrics for an authenticated game on NBC Sports Live Extra. The game delivered 142,033 uniques and 8,146,724 million minutes consumed, making it the best authentication-required NHL game ever in all key metrics, and the best authenticated or unauthenticated game of the 2013-14 season in all key metrics.

Through three rounds, the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most-watched in 17 years. NBC, NBCSN and CNBC have combined to average 1.187 million viewers for 86 games, up 11 percent vs. last year (1.074 million for 78 games), and the most since FOX, ESPN and ESPN2 combined to average 1.237 million for the first three rounds in 1997.