NEW YORK (AP Jan 21, 2013) — NHL fans have tuned in to hockey’s return to television.

NBC’s weekend  broadcast earned the highest preliminary rating for a non-Winter Classic regular-season game since 2002. The network said Sunday its regional coverage of Blackhawks-Kings and Penguins-Flyers averaged a 2.0 overnight rating. That’s up 67 percent from the average for regular-season games on NBC last year. (Follow the Wild on FSN CSi 25, along with selected games on NBC 11 and the NBC Sports Network, CSi- 63).

The abbreviated NHL season opened Saturday after a lockout wiped out the first three months of the season..

Ratings represent the percentage of homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings measure the country’s largest markets