Update: When the Hawks scored winning goal in OT, an estimated 843,000 homes in Chicago were watching.

Also, the game did a 37 share in Chicago. That means of the people who were watching TV last night, 37 percent–almost 2 out of 5–were tuned into the game.

Just adding a bit more “perspective” to Rovell’s tweet.

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Among Darren Rovell’s blizzard of tweets Sunday was this one:

4 out of 5 people in the Chicagoland area did not watch the Blackhawks on TV last night.

The ESPN sports business reporter is a Twitter machine, sending a seemingly infinite stream of facts about his beat. This one, though, is totally out of context.

Restaurants were empty last night in Chicago because everyone was watching the double OT thriller. I should know. The place we went to (don’t get on me, previous commitment) usually is jammed on a Saturday night. But there were plenty of tables available.

Here’s the reason: Game 5 of the Chicago-Los Angeles series did a 19.6 local rating. That means an average of nearly 700,000 homes tuned in during the telecast.

And while I don’t have the exact number, I’m betting the local rating was deep into the 20s during the two overtimes. Those are numbers usually are reserved for the Bears in this town.

And let’s not forget, it was a Saturday night. I’m sure the bars were jammed with happy Blackhawks fans.

Furthermore, the 19.6 local rating was the highest for a non-Stanley Cup Final game in Chicago. Nationally, the game did a 2.9 overnight rating on NBC, the network’s highest ever for a conference final.

I’m not going to get into an analysis of how the ratings work, but those numbers are huge. To suggest nobody cared in Chicago is flat-out wrong.

C’mon Darren, you know better.