NBC Sports Presents Game 5 of 2017 STANLEY CUP Final Tonight

NBC Sports presents a pivotal Game 5 matchup in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, when Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins host P.K. Subban and the NASHVILLE Predators, with the series deadlocked at two games apiece. Pre-game coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN with a special two-hour edition of NHL Live.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will provide streaming coverage of 2017 Stanley Cup Final.

Five-time Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike 'Doc' Emrick, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and analyst Eddie Olczyk, and Emmy Award-winning 'Inside-the-Glass' analyst Pierre McGuire will provide commentary from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. This marks the 11th consecutive year that Emrick, Olczyk and McGuire will combine to call the Stanley Cup Final for NBC Sports.

Host Liam McHugh will anchor pre-game, intermission and studio coverage on-site throughout the series, alongside analysts and former players Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. In addition, Kathryn Tappen and Paul Burmeister and will host coverage from an outdoor set outside PPG Paints Arena, alongside analysts and former players Jeremy Roenick, Brian Boucher, and Anson Carter.

Game 4 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final on NBC, in which the Predators defeated the Penguins 4-1 in NASHVILLE on Monday night, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.737 million viewers, up 34% vs. last year's Game 4 between the Penguins and San Jose Sharks (4.291 million), and surpassing every game of last year's Stanley Cup Final, including the Cup-clinching Game 6 on NBC.

Despite neither NASHVILLE (#29) nor Pittsburgh (#23) being a Top 20 TV market, the CONTEST was the second-most watched Game 4 on record (since 1994), behind only Boston-Chicago on NBC in 2013 (6.459 million), which are the #9 and #3 TV markets, respectively. Through four games, the 2017 Stanley Cup Final is averaging a TAD of 4.231 million viewers, up 24% vs. 2016 (3.414 million).

Locally, NASHVILLE posted a 28.0 rating, an all-time record for the market for an NHL game on the networks of NBC, surpassing its Game 1 rating (22.5). Pittsburgh delivered a 30.9 local rating to lead all local U.S. markets. NBC was the No. 1 network overall in both markets during the game.

STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME 5 - PENGUINS-PREDATORS - TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBC

After dropping the first two games of the series in Pittsburgh, the Predators responded with a pair of wins at home in Nashville, capped by a 4-1 win in Game 4 at Bridgestone Arena on Monday night. Pekka Rinne shined in net for the Preds, stopping 23 of 24 shots in the win, while rookie Frederick Gaudreau scored his third goal of the Stanley Cup Final, also his third career NHL goal. Gaudreau is the second player in NHL history to score his first three career goals in the Cup Final (John Harms; Chicago, 1944).

Pittsburgh scored two combined goals in its two games in Nashville, following nine goals in Games 1 and 2 at home. The Penguins have gone just 1-for-16 in the power play in the series. Sidney Crosby SNAPPED a 12-game goal drought in the Cup Final (dating back to 2009) with his tally in the first period.

If Pittsburgh wins Game 5, NASHVILLE will face elimination for the first time this postseason, and the Penguins will have the chance to clinch the Cup on the road - a theme throughout the team's history. All four of the Pens' Stanley Cups have been won away from Pittsburgh (1991 - Minnesota, 1992 - Chicago, 2009 - Detroit, 2016 - San Jose). The Penguins would be the first franchise to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. If the Predators win tonight, they will have the opportunity to clinch their first-ever Stanley Cup title on home ice on Sunday night on NBC.

Need more TV Theatre News in your life? Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...