The conference finals of these Stanley Cup playoffs haven't exactly been must watch TV, although the game last night sure was.

Good morning to you.

Good.

Thursday morning, I'm Dan Kowato, each of the Kittsburg Sports.

This is Daily Shot of Penguins.

It comes your way right and early every weekday.

If you're into football and or baseball, I also offer daily shots of Steelers and Pirates in the same place that you found this.

Panthers 5, Hurricanes 3 last night in Raleigh, that was game 5 of the Eastern Conference final,

and that was the series.

Panthers are advancing to the final for the third straight year, which by the way,

before I get to my actual points this morning, is an amazing feat unto itself.

In the past 30 years, only the Panthers and the other team in that state, the lightning,

have pulled that off, getting to the final three straight years. The Penguins, of course,

have gotten to the final in back-to-back years twice, but three straight is something else entirely.

Among the four major professional sports, the NBA's Golden State franchise made it five straight times.

The Cleveland franchise and the Miami franchise made it four straight each.

And the Yankees in Major League Baseball made it four times.

The chiefs in the NFL have made it an ongoing three times to the Super Bowl.

The question is, for today, is anybody watching?

To which I answer, depends on how you look at it.

The most common, and by the way, the laziest way to ever look at the NHL's television ratings is to just go by straight Nielsen. Why? Because

Nielsen counts nothing but the American audience. And the last I checked, there are still

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