NEW YORK -- The Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks are already a television hit in the Stanley Cup finals.

Chicago's stirring 6-5 victory Saturday night in Game 1 produced the best overnight rating for a hockey finals opener in 11 years.

The game on NBC garnered a 2.8 overnight rating and 6 share, the best numbers since 1999 when Buffalo and Dallas produced a rating of 3.7 on FOX. Saturday night's rating was 12 percent higher than last year's opener between Detroit and Pittsburgh.

The rating for Blackhawks-Flyers Game 1 is the highest overnight number for an opener played on a Saturday since Detroit-Philadelphia drew a 5.1 in 1997 on FOX. Chicago led all markets with a 16.8 rating and 35 share. Philadelphia followed at 13.2 rating and a 25 share.