In one moment, this game was ruined. Let’s see if we can pinpoint it down to the individual frame:

As you can probably guess, this throw by Reese McGuire from the Leaning Tower of Pisa pose did not end well for the Red Sox. It was rushed, it was to the wrong base (you can see Devers pointing to first base in the picture), it resulted in an error, it resulted in a run, it nearly got Ceddanne Rafaela killed, and it ended Tanner Houck’s night. It was the sixth of seven consecutive plays in which the Red Sox win probably went down, and by the time the dust settled, the Twins had a win expectancy of 95.4 percent. Awful!

In better news, Tanner Houck nearly pulled off another great start; and this time, he did it without his best stuff. The final line reads four earned run allowed in 6.0 innings, but the big picture take away is that he took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning having only surrendered one run despite inconsistent weaponry. Sometimes he was getting too much break on his off-speed pitches, and others, not enough. He was forced to battle.

The feel came and went, like a high powered racecar that wasn’t quite dialed in and needed an adjustment. He struck out five, walked two, and while that doesn’t sound too notable, it gains context when you add in that coming into this game Houck had struck out 41 and only walked five all year.

He didn’t really have it tonight, and yet he made a game of it while getting no help from his offense. The next step he needs to take to fulfill his quest to become and ace and not just a good starter is to find a way to wrap up an outing like this. Get through one more inning and walk off the mound under your own terms. Obviously the McGuire play boned him and took the ball out of his hands, but he also gave up two line drive singles before that happened.

Tonight, it probably didn’t matter as this feels like a game the Red Sox would have lost either way, but one of these outings Houck is going to have another chance to battle through seven strong innings with his stuff out of whack, and it’s going to result in 3-2 win, or something along those lines. That’s when he’ll transform into a really special pitcher! The best guys win even when they don’t have their “A” Game.

Another piece of good news is that Naoyuki Uwasawa was able to come into the game for Houck and pitch to the finish line. He couldn’t put the fire out in the seventh inning, and initially made things even worse with a pitch clock violation, but he did manage to pitch to the end and save the rest of the pen from any work. This is crucial for tomorrow given the Red Sox will be going with a bullpen game and will need as many fresh arms as possible.

Elsewhere on the diamond, the offense put forth a highly irritable showing. Two batters into the game, they had men on second and third with nobody out and a chance to take an early lead. Instead, they didn’t score a run until the eighth inning.

As bad as they were though, the play of the game (and not in a good way) was the McGuire miscue. Here it is in motion:

Three Studs

Rafael Devers:

The Red Sox only had four hits in this entire game. Devers had two of them, including a first inning double that should have set the table for an early lead. Alas, most everybody else sucked tonight.

Tanner and the Timer:

Tonight’s game was two hours and 21 minutes, but this is part of a larger pattern of fast games when Tanner Houck pitches. In seven starts this season, Tanner Houck’s games are averaging just two hours and 16 minutes. He’s taking the mound ready to work fast and jam it down the opponent’s throat. He’s controlling the tempo, and these not much teams can do to stop him with a timer in place. This is alpha behavior and I love it!

Ballpark sounds:

During the first couple innings of this game on the NESN 360 feed, there was no play by play as they were having audio issues. (Amazing how that happens when you skimp on the budget.) In any case, it gave us a couple of innings to just take in the ballpark sounds, which was actually quite lovely.

Three Duds

Reese McGuire:

In addition to the disastrous defensive play, he also went hitless at the plate.

Tyler O’Neill

He was at the center of not cashing in during that first inning opportunity. He also got another opportunity with a man on second in the eighth and struck out there too. Overall, he went 0-4 with three strikeouts.

Wilyer Abreu

He also went 0-4 with three strikeouts. And he, like O’Neill, also played a huge role in not cashing in at least one run from that golden opportunity in the first.

Red Sox Viewing PSA: The heathens who run Major League Baseball have once again decided this year that every Friday night, four lucky fanbases will have their team’s games hijacked off their regional sports networks and behind the paywall of another streaming platform. For New England viewing purposes, this means that three upcoming Friday night Red Sox games will be on Apple TV and not NESN. They are as follows:

May 24th: Brewers @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

May 31st: Tigers @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

June 28th: Padres @ Red Sox (7:00pm)

Fortunately, Apple TV happens to currently be offering a two month free trial, meaning you could get it now and be able to watch those three games without being forced to fork over additional cheese. Here’s a link for that. Just remember to cancel after the Padre game. (I’ll remind everybody in that game wrap.)

BEDFORD — The Boston Bruins are getting some of the finest goaltending in the Stanley Cup playoffs and all they have to show for it is a Game 7 showdown against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night (8) at the TD Garden.

The Maple Leafs trailed the series 3-1 but staved off elimination with a 2-1 victory in overtime in Game 5 on Tuesday night at the TD Garden. Toronto evened the series 3-3 with a 2-1 victory on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Bruins’ goaltender Jeremy Swayman was outstanding in both losses and he, along with Linus Ulmark, have combined for the highest save percentage in the playoffs. The Bruins top the charts with a .940 save percentage, slightly ahead of the New York Rangers (.931), who swept the Washington Capitals in their opening round series.

“Both goalies have (played well), but especially Swayman because he has played the majority of the games and has been tremendous,” said Montgomery, after the team’s arrival on Friday afternoon at Hanscom Field.

“We need everybody to be more like Jeremy Swayman. He’s in the moment, he’s owned the moment and he is relishing being a difference maker.”

The Rangers and the Bruins flip flop in goals against average. The Rangers lead the way with a 1.75 goals against average in four games while the Bruins are second at 1.82 in six matches.

With good goaltending typically the defining barometer of playoff success, the Bruins should be in a better place than coming home for a Game 7 with all the momentum favoring the rejuvenated Maple Leafs.

Montgomery did not disclose any lineup changes for Game 7 but he indicated Swayman deserved to make his sixth start against the Maple Leafs.

“When you get an opportunity to play in a Game 7 whether you are a Celtics fans or a Red Sox fan, you think about the opportunity to play in a Game 7 and be a difference maker,” said Montgomery. “I’m getting goose bumps right now just talking about him (Swayman) and that is the attitude we have to have.”

The Maple Leafs’ resurgence is also based on exceptional goaltending but from a surprising source. Toronto backup Joseph Wall supplanted starter Ilya Samsonov in Game 4 and was lights out in the next two starts.

Woll leads all playoff goalies with 0.86 goals against average, followed by Swayman at 1.60. Woll tops the leaderboard with a .964 save percentage, followed by Swayman at .947. In four starts, Samsonov registered a 3.31 goals against average and a .883 save percentage.

The Bruins have been analyzing Woll over two straight starts, searching for flaws in his mechanics and determining the best ways to break him down. The Maple Leafs have provided a force field for Woll, packing it down between the circles and the low slot, making it harder for the Bruins to get pucks through the congestion.

“We have to get bodies in front of the net and if you ask any goalie, no goalie likes traffic,” said Bruins’ center Charlie Coyle. “We have to get traffic there and they are doing a good in front of him and he is playing great.

“To their credit, they are playing well in front of him packing it in and making it tough to get shots through. We have to spread them out somehow and find ways to do that and get to the net. We need to fight for our space in there and work for that and get to the net.

“It’s the same old simple cliché that we say, but that’s how you do it with second and third and fourth efforts. That’s the mindset you have to have when a goalie is playing well. You get traffic in front of him and take away his eyes and good things will happen when you go to the net.”

Winning draws

The Bruins’ deficiencies in the faceoff circle in Game 6 were emblematic of their problems in this decisive area throughout the series.

The Bruins won 20-of-54 for a 37% success rate and 14-of-48 (31%) at even strength. Coyle was the only Bruins player with a positive ratio, winning 8-of-15. Pavel Zacha won just 1-of-10.

The Maple Leafs won 34-of-54 for a 63% success rate and 33-of-48 (69%) at even strength. Topping the Leafs was center John Tavares, who won 15-of-23, with David Kampf and Mitch Marner winning seven apiece.

“We can always be better there and it starts with the centermen,” said Coyle. “You have your wingers there to help, too, and that’s the first battle of any shift.

“We have to take a little more initiative to win those and fight for those and tie up if we have to. It’s all five guys out there at that point but the centermen have to take ownership there and really battle. They do a good job of that in their faceoffs and that is one area we can definitely get better.”

Motivating Pasta

Montgomery called out right wing David Pastrnak after Game 6 for not producing on the ice. Pastrnak logged 19:58 minutes and 29 shifts, the most by a Bruins forward, and came away with three shots, six hits and a penalty.

“I talked to him right after the game about it and I talked to him about it during the game,” said Montgomery. “Pasta and I have a real healthy communicative relationship and he’s ready to go.”

Biglaw firms must be really eager to “pahk the car in Hahvahd Yahd,” because there’s currently a rush on opening new offices in Boston. In a little more than a week, three Am Law 100 firms have announced their plans for new Boston locations, and one firm even initiated a massive group lateral move to get a Boston legal team in place. We’re got more than a feeling that this is a trend in the making.

Simpson Thacher will open its Boston office “later this year,” and Kenneth Burdon, a registered funds partner from Skadden, will help the firm throw open its doors. Nathan Somogie, an STB partner in New York, will also head to Massachusetts to assist. As noted by the American Lawyer, the firm plans to advise clients in asset management and other financial institutions, health care, biotechnology, life sciences, and technology on their transactional, disputes, regulatory, and enforcement needs.

Paul Hastings is also planning to open up shop in Beantown through the hiring of Sidley Austin private equity co-leader, Alexander Temel. Joining him will be Sidley private equity partner William Schwab. “[W]e believe Boston provides fertile ground in private equity, life sciences, funds formation, litigation, capital markets, and other areas that are synergistic across many of our strengths,” Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez said of the firm’s expansion.

Last, but certainly not least, Blank Rome recently picked off a 25-lawyer team of corporate and cannabis lawyers from Burns & Levinson to get its footprint in Boston, making it the firm’s 16th office. “We have considered adding a cannabis industry team for a number of years,” said Grant Palmer, Blank Rome’s chair and managing partner. “We have clients who have invested in the cannabis industry or provide services in the cannabis space… We’ve been looking at Boston for some time because we have a number of clients there.”

Back in 2023, three Biglaw firms — Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, and Akin Gump — all opened offices in Boston. Now, three more Biglaw firms will be joining them. Who will be next? If you’ve got any information on which firms will be the next in the rush to become Massholes, please let us know.

Simpson Thacher Plans Boston Office, Hires Skadden Funds Partner [American Lawyer]
Paul Hastings Lands Co-Leader of Sidley’s PE Practice in 2-Partner Move [American Lawyer]
Blank Rome Recruits 25 Burns & Levinson Lawyers to Launch Boston Office [American Lawyer]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.