Sportsnet says an average of 2.23 million viewers tuned in to watch the early games of its first "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcast Saturday.
Five games were shown over five different channels starting at 7 p.m. ET: Pittsburgh at Toronto (CBC), Montreal at Philadelphia (City), Ottawa at Tampa Bay (Sportsnet One), Calgary at St. Louis (Sportsnet 260) and Washington at Boston (FX Canada).
According to Sportsnet, an average of 1.31 million viewers took in the 10 p.m. ET late games: Edmonton at Vancouver (CBC) and Winnipeg at San Jose (Sportsnet, Sportsnet One).
An average audience of 2.01 million tuned into Wednesday's season-opener between Montreal and Toronto on Sportsnet.
Rogers is in the first year of a new $5.2-billion, 12-year TV rights deal.