Beauty Play of the Week (10.29 to 11.04.2025): Amadeus Lombardi’s Passing on John Leonard’s Eighth Goal of the 2025-26 Season

Photo Credit: Nicolas Carrillo/Grand Rapids Griffins

The Grand Rapids Griffins extended their undefeated streak to 8-0 with back-to-back wins against the Rockford IceHogs, 4-2 & 6-2.

Captain Dominik Shine had a three-point night in the Griffins' 4-2 win over the IceHogs. The next afternoon, Grand Rapids started slow, but then had an offensive resurgence in the third, scoring three goals. Amadeus Lombardi, Antti Tuomisto, John Leonard, and Nate Daniels finished Sunday’s game with two points each.

From all of this arose one beautiful play. Lombardi’s slick skating and quick thinking that led to Leonard’s eighth goal of the season.

This goal was so much fun to watch come to fruition.

Lombardi’s playmaking skills and ability to assess situations were on full display. Now, many people believe Lombardi should have taken the shot instead of passing to Leonard. But, I 100% believe Lombardi made the correct decision.

Here’s why:

All three of the IceHogs that Lombardi was skating around were gunning for that puck and could have easily stripped it from him or blocked a shot. Also, Lombardi likely would have gotten pushed to the left and not had as clear of a shot. Plus, Rockford’s goaltender Mitchell Weeks was tracking every move Lombardi made, placing him in the right position to stop a shot.

Passing to Leonard instead of shooting left one IceHog as a threat to the play instead of three. And, it caught Weeks off guard, forcing him to jump too far to his left, leaving the net wide open for the goal.

If Lombardi didn’t trust his instincts and his teammate, this energy inducing goal never would have happened.