The NHL postseason begins Saturday, April 19. Games will air on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, TNT, TBS, and truTV, with TNT set to broadcast the Stanley Cup Final.
Luckily, there are plenty of streaming options for puck heads to catch all the coverage. Here’s a look at the best streaming services for watching the Stanley Cup playoffs so you don’t miss a single goal, hit, or heart-stopping overtime.
Over the air
The Televes Bexia is a rigid antenna that can be mounted to a wall or set on a window sill or piece of furniture.
Martyn Williams/Foundry
ABC is scheduled to broadcast both the Eastern and Western Conference Quarterfinals. You can watch them for free with an over-the-air TV antenna that’s capable of pulling in your local ABC broadcast affiliate. You’ll find our top antenna picks here.
Sling TV
Pros
- Lower base price than most other live TV services
- Easy-to-navigate app and grid guide
- Video quality settings help avoid data caps and buffering
Cons
- DVR storage is frustrating to manage
- 60-frames-per-second channel support is limited
- Multiple base packages and add-ons can cause confusion
Sling TV offers ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS and ABC, and you can get them together with the Sling Orange package for $46 a month. Currently, you can get 50 percent off your first month.
DirecTV Stream
Pros
- Familiar remote for cable converts
- Great grid guide and fuss-free cloud DVR
- Smooth video and surround sound support
Cons
- Optional streaming box doesn’t support Amazon Prime or Hulu
- More latency and less reliability than cable
DirectTV Stream also offers ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and TBS, and you can get them all in its Entertainment package for $84.99 a month. You might also be able to get ABC, but availability varies by package and location. You can enter your Zip code on the DirecTV Stream website to see if ABC is available in your area.
Hulu + Live TV
Pros
- Excellent value for Disney bundle subscribers
- Expansive on-demand catalog
- Recommendations and staff picks make the app fun to explore
Cons
- Live TV can be inefficient to navigate
- Hard to figure out which programs allow ad skipping
- Can’t watch on TV devices while traveling
Hulu’s live TV streaming service is available as a single, flat-fee package that includes more than 95 live and on-demand channels—including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and TBS. You get them all, in addition to Hulu’s original content, its streaming library, and Disney+ for $82.99 a month.
YouTube TV
Pros
- Simple interface makes live TV easy to navigate
- Unlimited DVR allows for a huge on-demand library (with skippable ads)
- Broad selection of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels
Cons
- Can’t delete recordings or mark them as watched on TV devices
- One-off recordings only work for live sporting events
- Menu doesn’t clearly separate DVR and on-demand video (with unskippable ads)
YouTube TV also offers a flat-fee package of more than 100 channels that includes ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT and TBS. Subscriptions are $82.99 per month, but the service is currently offering the first two months for just $59.99 per month.
Author: Michael Ansaldo, Contributor, TechHive
Michael Ansaldo is veteran consumer and business technology journalist. He’s been a contributor to TechHive since 2013, covering robot vacuums, home security cameras, and other smart devices. He previously served as PCWorld’s Small Business Editor, and his tech coverage has appeared in Wired, Macworld, Mac|Life, Mobile Magazine, Enterprise.Nxt, Executive Travel, and other publications.