NBCSN Airs Western Conference Final Game 5 Tonight

NBCSN presents a crucial Game 5 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Western Conference Final tonight at 8 p.m. ET, as Vladimir Tarasenko and St. Louis Blues host Joe Pavelski and the San Jose Sharks with their best-of-7 series tied at two games apiece.

Kenny Albert (play-by-play), Joe Micheletti (analyst), and Brian Boucher ('Inside-the-Glass' analyst) will have the call of tonight's Sharks-Blues Game 5 showdown from Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. This trio will also call Wednesday night's Game 6 matchup on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

NBCSN's Stanley Cup Conference Finals coverage continues tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET, when Tyler Johnsonand the Tampa Bay Lightning look to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance with a Game 6 win against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Three-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 have the call from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Pre-game coverage tonight at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN with NHL Live, hosted by Kathryn Tappen alongside analysts and former players, Keith Jones, Jeremy Roenick, and Anson Carter.

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"NHL Playoff Pass" on NBC Sports Group Press Box provides a quick daily overview of Stanley Cup Playoff coverage, plus information and highlights. The Pass will be published weekdays to preview that evening's games. Friday editions will include weekend information.

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THE PASS - MONDAY, MAY 23 (All times ET)

MONDAY, MAY 23
Time	Coverage	Network	Commentators
7 p.m.	NHL Live	NBCSN	Kathryn Tappen, Keith Jones, Jeremy Roenick, Anson Carter
8 p.m.	Game 5 - San Jose at St. Louis	NBCSN	Kenny Albert, Joe Micheletti, Brian Boucher

All Stanley Cup Playoff games will be presented on NBC, NBCSN, USA Network, CNBC and NHL Network.NBC Sports Live Extra - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will provide streaming coverage of games airing on NBC, NBCSN, usa network and CNBC via "TV Everywhere." For more information on NBC Sports Group's overall NHL Playoff coverage, please click here.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL GAME 5 - SHARKS-BLUES - TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN - SERIES TIED 2-2

The Blues responded with a decisive 6-3 win in Game 4 on Saturday night in San Jose to tie the series 2-2, following back-to-back shutout losses in Games 2 and 3. Blues goaltender Jake Allen made his first start since April 3, and made 31 saves in the win, while Kyle Brodziak and Troy Brouwer each scored a pair of goals. San Jose netminder Martin Jones, who has started every game in net for the Sharks this postseason, was pulled in favor of James Reimer midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 19 shots. Sharks captain Joe Pavelski netted his 10th goal of the playoffs in the loss, setting a new franchise record for most goals in a single postseason.

Tonight's Game 5 looms large for the Stanley Cup Final prospects for both clubs. Historically, teams that win a Game 5 in a best-of-7 series tied 2-2 go on to win the series 78.4% of the time (192-53 all-time). NBCSN will also present Game 6 of Blues-Sharks on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL GAME 6 - PENGUINS-LIGHTNING - TOMORROW AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN - LIGHTNING LEAD 3-2

The Lightning stunned the Pittsburgh crowd on Sunday night with a 4-3 come-from-behind win in Game 5 to move within one victory of their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance. Pittsburgh built leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the game, but NIKITA Kucherov tied the score with 3:16 left in regulation, and Tyler Johnson won the game 53 seconds into overtime on a deflection. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made his first start of the postseason and stopped 21 of 25 shots in the loss.

A Game 6 win would make Tampa Bay the first Eastern Conference team to appear in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals since the Penguins faced the Red Wings in consecutive Cup Finals in 2008 and 2009.

LIGHTNING-PENGUINS GAME 5 IS MOST-STREAMED CONFERENCE FINALS GAME EVER

Last night's Lightning-Penguins Game 5 on NBC Sports Live Extra was the most-streamed Conference Finals game ever in terms of live minutes streamed. The game produced 9.2 million minutes and 120,000 unique visitors, up 55% and 48%, respectively, vs. last year's Lightning-Rangers Conference Final Game in the same window.

Through last night, the 2016 NHL Playoffs has 1.4 million unique visitors and 306.5 million minutes across all Live Extra platforms, increases of 12% and 87%, respectively, thru the same number of days of the 2015 Playoffs.

Locally, Saturday night's Blues-Sharks Game 4 matchup on NBC produced a 16.2 rating in St. Louis to rank as the most-watched Blues game ever on NBC in the market. Last night's Lightning-Penguins Game 5 on NBCSN produced a 23.5 rating in Pittsburgh to rank as the second-highest rated Penguins Conference Final game ever on NBCSN in the market (27.1; 5/26/09 vs. Carolina).

GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR

For the fifth consecutive year, NBC, NBCSN, USA Network, CNBC and NHL NETWORK are combining to televise every Stanley Cup Playoff game nationally.

Network	Games
NBC	13
NBCSN	48
USA Network	6
CNBC	12
NHL Network	2
Total	81

One-goal Games: 45

OT games: 18

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