The Stanley Cup Playoffs continues to defy expectations.

Monday’s Predators-Penguins Stanley Cup Final Game 1 earned a 3.5 overnight rating on NBC, up 30% from Sharks-Penguins opposite an NBA Game 7 last year (2.7) but down 17% from Blackhawks-Lightning in 2015 (4.2).

The 3.5 is the fourth-highest for a Game 1 in the Stanley Cup Final since 1999, trailing Blackhawks-Lightning in ’15, Rangers-Kings in 2014 (3.8) and Bruins-Blackhawks in 2013 (4.9), each of which involved a top ten media market. Keep in mind the opener aired on cable from 2000-08 and on Saturday night from 2008-10.

Game 1 earned a 35.7 rating in Pittsburgh, up 16% from Game 1 last year (30.6) and up 42% from Penguins-Red Wings Game 1 in 2009 (26.5). It topped every game of last year’s final except for the clinching Game 6. The game also had a 22.5 in Nashville, a record for the NHL in the market, and its highest rating for a non-NFL sporting event since the Clemson-Alabama college football title game in January (26.6).

[Mon. numbers from NBC Sports PR/Twitter 5.30a, 5.30b, 5.30c]