With almost 3 percent of homes in the nation's metered markets tuned in, NBC's Saturday-night coverage of Stanley Cup finals opener between the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers scored the highest overnight TV ratings for a Game 1 since 1999.

That 2.8 overnight household rating represents a 12 percent increase over Game 1 of last year's National Hockey League title series between Pittsburgh and Detroit, which was on a Saturday night not on Memorial Day weekend.

But it pales in comparison to TNT's 5.8 overnight household rating for Saturday night's decisive Western Conference finals Game 6 in which the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns to earn a matchup with the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association finals beginning Thursday.

In Chicago, on WMAQ-Ch. 5, Saturday's game averaged a 16.8 household rating (which translates to more than 588,000 area homes) and 35 percent of all homes watching TV at the time. That's their highest ratings in recent memory, although only a little more than half what the Chicago Bears drew for their prime-time December overtime regular-season football victory over Minnesota.