from Neil Best of Newsday,

Rangers fans would watch their team in the playoffs no matter what channel it was on, but clearly they prefer their familiar local announcers, Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti, when given the choice.

Through five games of the Rangers’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Canadiens, about 79 percent of the total audience in the New York area — 2.34 percent of homes — opted to watch on MSG or MSG-Plus.

Only 0.64 percent of homes watched on NBCSN.

NBC had exclusive coverage of Game 6 on Saturday night, making it the only game of the series that would not be seen on MSG Network.

This is the first time that coverage of games on NBC’s cable channels is allowed to be shown in the home markets of the teams involved — other than Pittsburgh and Boston — rather than being blacked out.

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