The NHL’s biggest outdoor game attracted its smallest audience for a third straight year.

The Blackhawks/Blues NHL Winter Classic had a 1.5 rating and 2.6 million viewers on NBC Monday afternoon, per Nielsen fast-nationals — down a tick in ratings and 8% in viewership from Canadiens/Bruins last year (1.6, 2.8M) and down 21% and 26% respectively from Blackhawks/Capitals in 2015 (1.9, 3.5M). The previous Winter Classic to take place on January 2, Rangers/Flyers in 2012, had a 2.1 and 3.7 million.

The Blues’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Winter Classic yet (nine telecasts), falling below the previous lows set last year. Since hitting a 2.5 rating and 4.4 million in 2014, the first year after a lockout-induced hiatus, ratings and viewership for the event have declined each subsequent year.

Monday’s game delivered the 11th-largest NHL regular season audience since the league returned to NBC in the 2005-06 season, behind the previous eight Winter Classics, a 2014 Penguins/Blackhawks Stadium Series game (2.8M) and a two-game regional window that kicked off the abbreviated 2013 season (2.8M).

Locally, the game had a 15.5 rating in St. Louis — the market’s best ever for the regular season on NBC. In Chicago, it had a 7.4 rating, down 35% from the Blackhawks’ previous Winter Classic appearance two years ago (11.4) and down 37% from the Chicago-hosted Winter Classic in 2009 (11.8). Overall, ratings were up across the metered markets, rising from a 1.8 last year to a 1.9.

On New Year’s Day, the Red Wings/Maple Leafs Centennial Classic scored a 0.6 and 1.1 million viewers opposite Week 17 of the NFL season, peaking at 1.6 million during the final quarter-hour.

(Wknd. numbers from NBC Sports)