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Blinken delivers some of the strongest US public criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday delivered some of the Biden administration’s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians” but failed to neutralize Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency.

In a pair of TV interviews, Blinken underscored that the United States believes Israeli forces should “get out of Gaza,” but also is waiting to see credible plans from Israel for security and governance in the territory after the war.

Hamas has reemerged in parts of Gaza, Blinken said, and that “heavy action” by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah risks leaving America’s closest Mideast ally “holding the bag on an enduring insurgency.”

He said the United States has worked with Arab countries and others for weeks on developing “credible plans for security, for governance, for rebuilding” in Gaza, but ”we haven’t seen that come from Israel. … We need to see that, too.”

Blinken also said that as Israel pushes deeper in Rafah in the south, where Israel says Hamas has four battalions and where more than 1 million civilians have massed, a military operation may “have some initial success” but risks “terrible harm” to the population without solving a problem “that both of us want to solve, which is making sure Hamas cannot again govern Gaza.”

Israel’s conduct of the war, he said, has put the country “on the trajectory, potentially, to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left or, if it leaves, a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy, and probably refilled by Hamas. We’ve been talking to them about a much better way of getting an enduring result, enduring security.”

Blinken also echoed for the first time publicly by a U.S. official the findings of a new Biden administration report to Congress on Friday that said Israel’s use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law. The report also said wartime conditions prevented American officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.

“When it comes to the use of weapons, concerns about incidents where given the totality of the damage that’s been done to children, women, men, it was reasonable to assess that, in certain instances, Israel acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” Blinken said. He cited “the horrible loss of life of innocent civilians.”

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in a call Sunday with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, raised concerns about a military ground operation in Rafah and discussed “alternative courses of action” that would ensure Hamas is defeated “everywhere in Gaza,” according to a White House summary of the conversation. Hanegbi “confirmed that Israel is taking U.S. concerns into account,” the White House said.

The war began on Oct. 7 after an attack against Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 250 people were taken hostage. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

U.S. and U.N. officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since Oct. 7 have brought on full-fledged famine in northern Gaza.

Tensions between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how the war, as well as domestic tensions about U.S. support for Israel with protests on U.S. college campuses and many Republican lawmakers saying that Biden needs to give Israel whatever it needs. The issue could play a major role in the outcome of November’s presidential election.

Biden said in an interview last week with CNN that his administration would not provide weapons that Israel could use for an all-out assault in Rafah.

Blinken appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

16-year-old dies, 2nd teen injured in shooting at Northborough house party

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A shooting at a large house party in the central Massachusetts town of Northborough early Sunday morning left a 16-year-old dead and another teen injured, authorities said.

Three people ranging in age from 19 to 27 who are not from Northborough were arrested on firearms-related charges and will be arraigned Monday, said Worchester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.

A partygoer flagged down a police officer shortly after 1 a.m. and said someone displayed a gun in the house, Northborough Police Chief Brian Griffin said. When officers arrived at the property, they heard multiple gunshots.

Police encountered a chaotic scene with about 300 people at the party, Early said.

The 16-year-old, from the Bellingham, Massachusetts, area, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, Early said. Another shooting victim, a 17-year-old male, was treated at the hospital, Early said. Two other people were treated at the hospital, and several others with visible injuries were treated at the scene but declined to be taken to the hospital.

Authorities are asking anyone with information or cell phone video from the scene to contact the Northborough police.

If Warner Brothers Discovery loses broadcast rights to the NBA, the greatest studio program in the history of sports may cease to exist

A year ago this month, Boston University students booed and picketed commencement speaker David Zaslav, the Warner Brothers Discovery CEO who was a pivotal figure in the soulless corporate ways during the Writers Guild of America strike at the time.

The jeers he heard that day will seem as serene as Walden Pond compared to the backlash he will deserve and hopefully receive if he loses the broadcast rights to the NBA — thus ending the greatest studio program in the history of televised sports, “Inside the NBA” — during ongoing negotiations with the league.

Here’s where negotiations on the new rights deal stand. The NBA, which has longstanding partnerships with ESPN/ABC (owned by Disney) and TNT Sports (owned by Warner Brothers Discovery), intends to add a third partner to focus on streaming.

Last month, multiple outlets reported that the framework of a deal was in place with Disney and streaming service Amazon Prime to be two of the partners, beginning with the 2025-26 season and running for at least a decade. That left WBD and NBCUniversal contending for the third partnership.

TNT’s history with the NBA practically runs parallel with the cable channel’s existence. Their first contract commenced in October 1988, a year after TNT launched. The partnership has been uninterrupted.

But the NBA has a history with NBC, too, most recently from 1990-2002. (Bet you can hear the “Roundball Rock” theme in your head right now.) And NBC is so determined to get back in the NBA game that it has reportedly offered $2.5 billion per year for a share of the rights.

If TNT loses the NBA, NBC would seem a decent alternative overall, and there is speculation in the industry that NBC already has the deal locked up. But true NBA fans don’t want an alternative, as competent as it may prove to be. Because it would likely mean the end of “Inside the NBA,” the lone current studio program for any sport that qualifies as high-level, satisfying entertainment in its own right.

Host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal have the kind of chemistry that other studio programs are desperate to replicate and never do. (How many incarnations of “NBA Countdown” has ESPN gone through in the quest to approximate what “Inside the NBA” has? Many, many incarnations.)

Barkley is a force of personality, self-deprecating, and genuinely hilarious, a one-of-one as a commentator. But it’s Johnson, who simultaneously keeps the show from careening off the rails while also participating in the humor and hijinks, who makes it work.

During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” on May 3, Barkley said that he would become a free agent if WBD and TNT lost the NBA, but he wasn’t sure of the contract status of Smith and O’Neal. Barkley said that Johnson, who has been the lead host for TNT’s NBA coverage for 35 years, intends to stay at the network. (His father, Ernie Johnson Sr., was a Braves broadcaster during TBS’s early days, so working under the former Turner umbrella is the family business.)

It’s unlikely if WBD and TNT lose the NBA that Barkley, Smith, and O’Neal would be a package deal for another network. The bottom line seems to be this: If WBD doesn’t retain the NBA, a studio show unlike any other in all the right ways, one that is part of the fabric of the NBA, will cease to be.

When Barkley made his comments on “The Dan Patrick Show,” he noted that a decision could come soon, perhaps as soon as that day. More than a week later, no announcement has come.

Perhaps the deal is already in place with NBC. Or perhaps Zaslav, who has on multiple occasions, although not recently, said that WBD does not need the NBA, has recognized what he’s about to lose.

During a WBD earnings call on Thursday, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, Zaslav said he remained hopeful for a deal that “makes sense for both sides.”

“We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this negotiation, and we have strategies in place for the various potential outcomes,” Zaslav said. “However, now is not the time to discuss any of this since we are in active negotiations with the league. And under our current deal with the NBA, we have matching rights that allow us to match third-party offers before the NBA enters into an agreement with them.”

WBD currently pays $1.2 billion for NBA broadcast rights. Zaslav’s options are to lose the NBA and anger fans that have enjoyed the network’s coverage for more than three decades, or pay at least twice the current rate (based on NBCUniversal’s $2.5 billion offer) for what is likely to be a smaller package of games considering Amazon’s involvement.

Zaslav, who has received camera time recently on TNT’s broadcasts from his courtside seats at Knicks playoff games — purely coincidental, I’m sure — is caught between a roundball rock and a hard place.

There are valid financial reasons not to match the NBCUniversal offer. But should Zaslav’s decision lead to the end of “Inside the NBA” as we know it, he deserves to be jeered like he was at BU any time he is in the vicinity of an NBA arena.

With Brad Marchand injured, Bruins pledge physical response vs. Panthers in Game 4

The Bruins will be without their captain for Game 4 against the Florida Panthers. 

Brad Marchand will not play on Sunday night at TD Garden after exiting Game 3 on Friday night with an upper-body injury. The 36-year-old winger was shaken up following a first-period collision with Sam Bennett, who appeared to punch Marchand before delivering his reverse hit.

“People can say it wasn’t intentional, but we have our view of it.”

Jim Montgomery‘s full comments on the Sam Bennett-Brad Marchand collision that injured the Bruins captain. pic.twitter.com/1sgAehh4QH

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 11, 2024

No penalties were assessed on the play, nor did Bennett receive any supplemental discipline from the league following Marchand’s injury.

Marchand, who struggled to get back on his skates after his collision with Bennett, only played 10:51 of ice time on Friday and did not return in the third period of Boston’s Game 3 loss. 

Montgomery, who acknowledged on Saturday that there was “clearly evidence” that Bennett sucker-punched Marchand as he closed in for a hit, added after Sunday’s optional skate that the Bruins should have done more in Game 3 to respond to Marchand’s injury. 

“I feel that that’s my fault that we didn’t retaliate to some degree, but you’re trying to get back in the game,” Montgomery said. “It’s 1-0 up until they get the four-minute power play and then we start the third and we score right away, and we got juices going. There’s reason why we didn’t but I think that’s something that I personally take responsibility for that.”

Trent Frederic acknowledged that he did not see the replay of Bennett’s hit on Marchand until after Game 3 wrapped. But both he and Pavel Zacha stressed that the Bruins are gearing up for a physical retort on Sunday night at TD Garden. 

“We have to really go after their top guys and let them know that’s not OK,” Zacha said. “To go after our captain, that’s not OK with us. We’re ready to be physical again today and be a little bit harder on them.”

Be it finishing hard checks or dropping the gloves, the Bruins will look to counter a physical Panthers team that boasts plenty of snarl across its depth chart. 

But Frederic also acknowledged that the Bruins can’t approach Game 4 as just an all-out slugfest — especially if it leads to several power-play opportunities for Florida.

Avenging Marchand following Bennett’s hit might be an area of emphasis, but the way to do so for Boston involves leaving the Garden ice on Sunday night with a win and a series deadlocked at 2-2. 

“There can be a time in the game where that can happen. That’s something that we might address but it’s a 2-1 series. We’ve got to be smart, too. We’ve given them a lot of power plays already. Try to limit it and do it in a smart way,” Frederic said, adding:  “I think it pisses off everyone.

“I think this whole team ticks everyone off, to be honest. There’s some individuals that maybe make guys more frustrated and more mad. But you can’t use it as frustration, you still have to go out and do the job. We’re still down 2-1 and try to make it 2-2 tonight.

Jrue Holiday was at his best in Game 3 against Cleveland, and that’s exactly what the Celtics need

CLEVELAND — Celtics fans with short memories and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately demands have witnessed Jrue Holiday deliver enormously impactful plays in the NBA playoffs before Saturday night, even if for some reason the recollections elude them.

Example: In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals two years ago, it was Holiday, then the second-best player on the Bucks, who blocked Marcus Smart’s shot and threw the ball off him out of bounds to steal a possession late in Milwaukee’s victory.

Then, a moment later at halfcourt, Holiday stripped the ball from Smart to prevent a last-gasp heave and slap an exclamation point on the Bucks’ win. (The Celtics did come back to win the series, so this has a happy ending.)

More recently and in a broader sense, Holiday’s dogged perimeter defense was a significant reason that the Heat could not replicate the sizzling shooting performance from their Game 2 win against the Celtics in the first round. Holiday, in his first playoff series as a Celtic, helped avoid any further unnecessary drama against a depleted nemesis.

But as important as Holiday has been to the Celtics — he’s the de facto Smart upgrade, more poised, conventional, and just plain better — there was sense that there was more to get from him.

He’s the lone Celtic with a championship ring and a two-time All-Star, and yet his role on offense often devolved into a bystander, waiting in the corner while Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown cooked.

Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Holiday cooked too. He was impactful and aggressive on offense from the opening tip while playing his usual tireless defense, and the result was arguably his best performance as a Celtic.

Holiday, after scoring just 4 points in Game 2, scored 18 in Game 3 on 7-of-10 shooting, while also collecting 8 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists in 38 minutes of playing time in the Celtics’ impressive 106-93 victory.

It was Holiday at his best, and it was exactly what the Celtics needed.

“Jrue was amazing tonight,’’ said Tatum, who led the Celtics with 33 points and, save for a couple too many step-back jumpers in the fourth quarter, played a stellar all-around game himself. “Jrue is kind of like the glue that keeps us all together. He literally does everything that we need him to. He sacrifices, sometimes taking single-digit shots a couple of games in a row.

“He can attack the mismatches, he can post up, he can obviously shoot the three. When he’s being aggressive and in that great rhythm, it just makes us that much better.”

Jaylen Brown, who played an exceptional game himself with 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting, was more succinct in his praise than Tatum, but just as accurate.

“Jrue is a dog. … Tonight was just a masterclass from him,’’ said Brown. “What a game for Jrue.”

Holiday sent a message on the Celtics’ first possession of the game that he had no intention of being a bystander on this night, backing down a Cavaliers defender for a lefty layup for the Celtics’ first points. Holiday attacked for a righthanded layup before three minutes had elapsed, and by the end of the quarter he already had 8 points, doubling his Game 2 output.

He may have been even better in the second quarter, when the Celtics extended their lead after Tatum sat down at the 10:45 mark.

The best sequence: He drove for another layup to put the Celtics up 34-32 at the 9:34 mark, then on the Celtics’ next possession he hauled in an offensive rebound on a Derrick White miss and passed up a putback to find Sam Hauser for a wide-open 3 and a 37-32 lead.

A little more than a minute later, Holiday buried a triple of his own to extend the lead to 45-38. He finished the first half with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the Celtics took a 57-48 lead into the break. The Celtics held the Cavaliers to just 8-of-24 shooting in the second quarter, and yes, of course Holiday was instrumental on that end too.

Holiday, who afterward was more inclined to talk about his teammates’ contributions than his own, did acknowledge that he thought attacking early and making the dynamic Donovan Mitchell (33 points) work as hard as possible on the defensive end would benefit the Celtics as the game played out.

“I knew Donovan was going to be aggressive on one side of the ball,” said Holiday. “There were a lot of times where I might [usually] defer or do something, I thought attacking him might get him more exhausted by the third or the fourth quarter … [Jaylen was] telling us to be aggressive, telling me to be aggressive, ‘if you get aggressive, then I’ll switch onto Donovan,’ just being a leader in that way.”

The Celtics, after some inspiring and amusing words by Brown at halftime — “We didn’t come to Cleveland for the weather, so let’s go,’’ he said — seized the game with a 14-0 run to start the third. Holiday drained a wide-open 3 to put the Celtics up 71-48 at the 9-minute mark, and the Cavaliers’ attempts at a run or a rally were thwarted the rest of the way.

“We’ve been here before, this year, where we were up 20 in the fourth quarter and they came back and won,’’ said Holiday, referencing the infamous Dean Wade Game on March 5 when the unsung Cavalier scored 20 points in the fourth quarter by himself in the stunning comeback. “I think we know what kind of firepower they have, what kind of team they are, really great scorers, so we felt like coming in and punching them in the mouth right out of the gate [in the second half].”

With the series back in their favor, the next question is whether the Celtics can maintain the same approach for Game 4, similar to how they won Games 3 and 4 in Miami after losing Game 2 at the Garden.

If the selfless Jrue Holiday, a star and a champion with a role player’s attitude, comes out swinging again, who wouldn’t like their chances?

Red Sox activate Brayan Bello off IL, surprisingly send down Josh Winckowski

Brayan Bello is back in the mix with the Red Sox, but an unexpected move was made in order to clear a spot for him on the active roster.

Boston activated Bello off the 15-day injured list and will start him in Sunday’s series finale against the Washington Nationals, the team announced. To make room for Bello, the Red Sox are surprisingly sending reliever Josh Winckowski down to Triple-A Worcester.

Winckowski has delivered solid results on the mound this season for the Red Sox. The righty is 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 24 1/3 innings pitched over 12 appearances, logging a few brief starts when the Red Sox were down several starting pitchers in late April and early May.

Entering the season, Winckowski was among those battling for one of the final spots in the Red Sox’ starting rotation. The 25-year-old came up to the majors as a starting pitcher in 2022, but has almost exclusively been used as a reliever since the start of last season.

Now that he’s back in Triple-A, Winckowski will start games again, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters on Sunday.

Bello had been sidelined since April 21 due to right lat tightness, getting placed on the injured list a few days later as he didn’t feel well following his most recent start. However, Red Sox manager Alex Cora insisted at the time that Bello wouldn’t be out for too long and that the injured list placement was for precautionary reasons.

There was an expectation that Bello, the Red Sox’ Opening Day starter, would be activated for Sunday’s game after making a rehab start earlier in the week. He gave up three runs over 2 2/3 innings in his start with Double-A Portland, but told reporters that he was feeling well afterward.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the command I had at the start of the year, but I feel really good,” Bello said on Tuesday through a translator. “I feel really happy, and overall I’ll be ready to go on Sunday when I’m supposed to go.”

Bello went 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA in the five starts he made prior to the injury.

There’s more help coming to the Red Sox’ starting rotation beyond Bello. Garrett Whitlock is making a rehab start on Wednesday and could get activated shortly after that. Nick Pivetta also rejoined the starting rotation earlier this week after being sidelined for a bit due to a right elbow flexor strain.

‘Not now, child. Mother is mothering.’

It’s the Mother’s Day episode, so “SNL “Saturday Night Live” brought on a “mother” to host.

Sure, she’s an actual mother of four children herself, but Maya Rudolph, an SNL cast member from 2000 to 2007, is also “mother.” As in, a legendary woman who slays and serves. 

“You were the first to slay the house down, boots queen!” says Bowen Yang. Rudolph concurs, and breaks into a song — “I’m your mother.” 

“Not now, child. Mother is mothering,” she tells Punkie Johnson, who has a “message from the gays: the monologue, it’s giving body-ody-ody-ody.”

This was Rudolph’s third time as SNL host — her last appearance was in 2021. Alongside her last night was musical guest Vampire Weekend.

The indie rock band from New York released their fifth studio album, “Only God Was Above Us,” last month. Headed by lead singer Ezra Koenig, the band has won two Grammys and been nominated four times. 

Cold Open

Instead of a traditional cold open, the cast brought their mothers on to tell a few jokes. But Kenan Thompson’s mom was excited for a regular cold open this week to see who’d play Stormy Daniels. Andrew Dismukes’ mom brings in some baby photos, and Chloe Fineman’s mom prepared some jokes to roast Tom Brady. Molly Kearney and her mom come on in bald caps, and Ego Nwodim’s mom needs to find Lorne Michaels and thank him. Without him, who would Nwodim be? A successful doctor, perhaps?

Monologue

Maya Rudolph, a four-time mom herself, is thrilled to be back at SNL. Bowen Yang notes that she’s not just a mom — “You’re mother. You were the first to slay the house down, boots queen!” Queue a musical number, with Thompson as the MC. “Ladies and gentleman, gays and theys, I give to you Mother of the House of Rockefeller!” In a bodysuit and with a crew of backup dancers, Rudolph sings about her various movies and SNL skits in the ballroom-style bit where she proves she’s “mother.”

Hot Ones with Beyonce 2

Beyonce’s back on Hot Ones with Sean Evans, after a disastrous appearance three years ago where she struggled with the sauces. But she’s back for a second try. “This was the only thing I have attempted that I did not slay, and that bothered both me and my husband. My husband is Jay-Z.” But it goes about as well as expected. “I’m about to start speaking in tongues,” she says after a particularly spicy wing, before asking her assistant (Thompson) if he can replace her bones with bones that aren’t on fire. “Why is this janky hot wings show the one thing Beyonce cannot do?”

Please Don’t Destroy — Explore Page

The Please Don’t Destroy guys are out with their girlfriends, who decide it’ll be a fun game to show each other their Instagram explore pages. But the guys’ algorithms are just videos of Uneesa Confidence (Rudolph), an “online girlfriend for young men with self esteem issues.”

Teacher PSA

We’re nearing the end of another school year, and teachers have a PSA for the kids: “Y’all won.” COVID broke something that can’t be fixed, so the teachers are giving up. Rudolph’s student said she had a “funky neck,” and James Austin Johnson recently found kids cooking a rotisserie chicken over a urinal. “From every teacher to those rude, sticky, illiterate children, we give up.”

British Cavemen

Nat Geo airs a special called “British Cavemen,” because cavemen roamed the whole Earth — even the places you don’t think about. The cavemen speak gibberish that sounds remarkably like modern-day British accents, and one of them even utters the first modern phrase when he’s burned by the fire: “Bloody hot, innit?!”

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend performed “Gen-X Cops” and “Capricorn,” both off their most recent album, “Only God Was Above Us.”

Weekend Update

Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle some of the week’s top news stories, like Stormy Daniels’ testimony in court, the northern lights, RFK Jr.’s brainworm, a new Lord of the Rings movie, and the Met Gala. Heidi Gardner comes on as “a woman who insists she’s not mad,” and Sarah Sherman is, you guessed it, RFK Jr.’s brainworm.

Coffee Commercial

Rudolph is a famous, diva-ish actress, and she’s shooting a commercial for Tip Top Coffee. She loves the product, and she’s never even had coffee before. “My doctor said, ‘do not.’” She goes more and more off the rails as the taping progresses, forcing staff to leave and overdoing it on the coffee. 

Nurse Appreciation

It’s Nurse Appreciation Week, so nurses are sharing what they love about their jobs. Some love getting to see babies born, or seeing a patient beat the odds. But two nurses (Nwodim and Rudolph) aren’t so jazzed. “90% of my job is cleaning up a grown man’s dookie,” says Nwodim. “Listen, if you can do any other job, do it.”

Taylor Wenczkowski is the triple-OT hero, as Boston beats Montreal to climb one win away from PWHL Finals

They had played over 110 minutes of hockey at Place Bell, and yet Boston and host Montreal were still knotted at 1 in Game 2 of their PWHL playoff semifinal series Saturday night.

Six Boston players had logged over 40 minutes, while seven Montreal skaters had done the deed — with five of them logging over 50. And with Boston looking the more tired crew, and the hosts threatening in the third overtime, Boston coach Courtney Kessel called on some fresh legs to see if they could make a difference.

Good call, coach.

Taylor Wenczkowski took a feed from defenseman Sidney Morin circling the net, and followed up her initial bid by popping home the rebound at 11:44 of the third overtime, giving Boston a 2-1 victory and a commanding 2-0 series lead.

“This is a great new rivalry in women’s hockey,” Wenczkowski said in a postgame TV interview. “And it’s great to go back home with a 2-0 lead.”

Wenczkowski had played just over 12 minutes when she took the ice, joining other fresher teammates Gigi Marvin (17 minutes) and Morin (28 minutes). Marvin won a right-circle draw to her right, where Morin picked it up and kept coming.

While Morin steamed around the net, Wenczkowski fought to the top of the crease. The first in-tight bid was stopped by Montreal goalie Ann-Renêe Desbiens (50 saves), but Wenczkowski whacked home the rebound to silence the Place Bell. It was the Rochester, N.H., native’s first-ever PWHL goal.

Four minutes earlier, Montreal almost won it when a point-shot by defenseman Erin Ambrose (who logged a game-high 61:33 of ice time) was on target. Boston goalie Aerin Frankel looked to kick out the rebound clear, but it instead caromed off the head of Morin back toward the goal — but it trickled harmlessly wide of the goal post.

After recording a league-record 53 saves in the Game 1 overtime victory two days earlier, Frankel stopped 56 of 57 shots to put Boston in the driver’s seat — needing to win just once more to get to the PWHL Finals. And Boston has won four straight at Tsongas Center, where they’ll host Game 3 on Tuesday.

This game was more tightly contested than Game 1, when Montreal dominated play throughout but was stymied by Frankel.

Boston came out firing to start, outshooting the hosts by a 10-5 edge in the first period. And Boston scored the game’s first goal, 6:48 into play, after some great forechecking and a fortunate bounce on a feed from below the goal line.

Amanda Pelkey picked up a loose puck behind the Montreal net, and fired it into the crease. The puck caromed off the skate of Desbiens and into her net for a surprising 1-0 Boston lead.

But Montreal righted its game in the middle frame, and tied it up on the power play. Maureen Murphy’s initial shot was saved by Frankel, but Kristin O’Neill was right there to knock home the rebound to make it 1-1 just 1:58 into the second.

The hosts controlled the third period, owning an 11-4 shot advantage, but they once again could not beat Frankel a second time in regulation. They thought they did with 30 seconds to go, when Mélodie Daoust’s shot was stopped by Frankel. Montreal crashed the net, and the puck sprung loose and was tapped in — but the referee had already blown the play dead.

After a long review, the play stood as called. So once again, these two combatants headed to overtime.

Montreal almost won it 2:30 into the extra session, but Laura Stacey’s low shot from the right rang Frankel’s outside post.

Then the game took a painful turn at 6:20, when Boston forward Lexie Adzija was called for a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for a hit to the head of Stacey. The officials reviewed the play for several minutes before confirming it and sending Adzija to the showers.

But Boston’s defense stood tall, only allowing three shots on the entire five-minute penalty kill, and Frankel saw them all. Montreal’s best chance was by Montreal star Marie-Philip Poulin, but Frankel stoned the Canada captain with 1:35 left on the power play.

Another Boston mistake, this time by standout defenseman Megan Keller, gave Montreal another opening with 3:36 left in overtime. Instead of firing a puck off the glass for a breaking forward, Keller sent it straight into the Place Bell crowd — earning a delay-of-game penalty.

But Frankel was unmoved. She stoned O’Neill on a nifty move down low, then made two more stops in quick succession, and finally fought through a screen to catch Murphy’s bid. Captain Hilary Knight showed her leadership by making two blocks in the final minute to protect her goaltender, leading to the second OT session.

A roughing penalty right at the final buzzer of the first overtime on Daoust gave Boston a full power play on clean ice to start double OT. Boston couldn’t capitalize, but it took control of the period from there, outshooting Montreal, 11-7, in the frame.

While the hosts had the better chances in the final minutes, the best chance fell to Boston in the final minute. Game 1 OT hero Susanna Tapani blocked a pass and broke down the left wing. She found Knight alone in the slot, but the Boston captain fired high from 12 feet up the slot and the goal beckoning.

‘I don’t always agree with what they say’: What Jayson Tatum said of recent criticisms following Celtics’ Game 3 win

Jayson Tatum’s play this postseason has largely been criticized, but he answered some of those doubts on Saturday.

The Celtics’ star scored 33 points, tied for the game-high, with 13 rebounds and six assists in Game 3 to lead Boston to a 106-93 win and regain control of the series.

Saturday’s performance followed a pair of relatively quiet outings in the first two games of the series for Tatum, scoring just 43 points through Game 2. In fact, he was averaging just 21.7 points per game so far in the playoffs before Saturday, leading many to criticize his play in recent days.

While Tatum’s scoring had been lackluster for his standards, the criticisms of him had been wide-ranging. There were questions about his shooting, scoring, aggressiveness, and leadership coming into focus.

Well, Tatum certainly checked off a couple of those boxes on Saturday. He was aggressive from the start, scoring 12 points as he put up nine shots in the first quarter to help the Celtics keep up with Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers. He maintained that aggressiveness throughout Saturday’s game, putting up seven shots at the rim and 11 shots in the paint as he had a team-high 25 field-goal attempts.

Tatum’s performance might have suggested that he had a point to prove to those who had been criticizing him in recent days. However, he seemed to suggest that wasn’t the case, saying he’s just focused on ways he can impact the game, but he has “respect” for the media.

“I don’t always agree with the things that they say,” Tatum told reporters. “When they’re fair and take emotion out of it, whatever way that they’re leaning toward when they’re fair, I respect it. I understand what the media has brought to our game. More eyes, more attention, and how everybody has benefited from that.

“I wouldn’t say that I take it as disrespect, right? Like I said, I don’t always agree with what they say. Maybe I feel like they’re not watching everything else that I’m doing. That’s not my job to focus on that, right?”

Even though Tatum was arguably the most impactful player in Game 3, his performance wasn’t perfect. He still struggled to make jump shots efficiently, making just 4 of 14 shots from outside the paint and shooting just 2 of 8 from deep. Tatum shot just 26.5 percent from deep this postseason, failing to make more than two 3-pointers in a game.

Tatum recognized that his shot isn’t falling the way he’d like it to. However, he believes he’s found other ways to impact the game and hopes his shot will start to eventually fall as a result.

“My job is to be the best player that I can be for our team on any given night,” Tatum said. “Yeah, I would love to make every shot I take. I know I can shoot better, and I will. At this time of the season, as long as we win and we’re trending in the right direction, I know my scoring will come. I’ve done that plenty of times.

“I just try to impact the game in other ways and just dominate. Dominate the game and not just be defined as a scorer.”

Guster plays to a packed crowd at Somerville Porchfest

Somerville Porchfest celebrated a hometown hero with intensely packed crowds this weekend. 

Guster, a Boston alternative rock group known for songs such as “Satellite” and “Amsterdam,” played a free show at Somerville’s annual outdoor music festival Porchfest. 

The Somerville Arts Council has been putting on a decentralized music festival and community event since 2011, according to their website. Porchfest multiplies the idea of overhearing a neighbor playing music on their porch. 

This year, due to the expected number of attendees, there was an announcement on the Somerville Community Alert System reminding residents to use caution when traveling through Somerville and to anticipate traffic delays. 

“This is the most people that have been on Aberdeen. Ever,” said vocalist and guitar player Ryan Miller at the beginning of a YouTube video that caught Guster’s entire set. 

And Miller’s assessment of the crowd wasn’t off base. Drone footage of the crowd revealed people standing in every possible crevice of the block. 

The set ended early due to a medical emergency in the crowd. 

“This may be our last PorchFest, f***. It’s like the Beatles. They get too close to these middle-aged beards and they’re like, ‘Oh my God. Receding hairlines? I can’t contain myself!’” said Miller as a motorcycle attempted to get through the crowd to assess the emergency. 

During their set, the group played some of their own material, including “Amsterdam,” but also threw in a cover of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. Although, according to members of the crowd, the sheer size of the fanbase prevented them from hearing most of it. 

“I’ve heard about as much Guster music as I heard before now, which is none of it,” said 30-year-old Andy Cawley to The Boston Globe. 

The group posted a picture of their perspective of the crowd to their Facebook page, showing people as far as the eye can see, even in the upper decks of the houses across the street. 

 

“We’ll be back next year but we’re not gonna tell anybody we’re playing next time. You’ll just have to find us, like Whac-A-Mole,” said Miller.